Vero Beach downtown; NFL; love yourself; Trump on card? WWII, Purple Heart canes | Letters

Hold next Purple Heart ceremony at World War II tribute

I attended the Purple Heart Cane Celebration at the Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce. It was deeply touching and reminiscent of my visit to Normandy with my late husband, Mike, in 2012. I will never forget that day.

There were 60 Purple Heart recipients and/or family members and friends honored with beautifully carved canes with bald eagle heads detailing honors awarded for service, sometimes the ultimate sacrifice, during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. The canes are carved by the project. Recipients came from 17 states, as far away as Oregon.

The high point for me was when Juli Summers accepted a cane on behalf of her father, Ed Ochylski, a longtime resident of Vero Beach, who participated in the D-Day invasion and Battle of the Bulge. He was recognized by Gen. George Patton as a real WWII hero.

The Purple Heart recognition goes back to George Washington. The carved cane tradition in Indian River County is eight years old. Lloyd Laserby started it and has been master of ceremonies throughout.

Lloyd is a Vietnam veteran and served in the 101st Airborne Division. His smile, quick wit and empathy were appreciated by recipients and attendees alike.

There was probably not a dry eye when the ceremony ended. It is my hope the next Purple Heart Cane presentation will take place at the WWII Tribute on Veterans Memorial Island Sanctuary. We hope the tribute will be dedicated Memorial Day 2024.

The Tribute, a community project, is the most recent addition to Vero’s art triangle, which includes Riverside Theatre and the Vero Beach Museum of Art. Contributions for completion of that project are welcome. Checks should be made out to CCIRC — WWII Tribute and mailed to CCIRC, 2400 15th Ave., Suite 2, Vero Beach, FL 32960.

Barbara Ruddy, Vero Beach

Offer great advice about loving to young and old

A recent letter, "Learn to love yourself before pointing fingers at others," struck a cord.

When we were raising our children and then guiding our grandchildren, we would frequently tell them: "If you cannot love yourself, then you cannot love others."

I would tell them when you look in the mirror in the morning, tell yourself you love you and then give yourself a hug.

Like the author of the aforementioned letter, people need to love themselves before they can love others. That love will be expressed in the compassion, understanding, justice and equality you give to others.

Ronald D. Roberts, Sebastian

Vero Beach consultant Duany right about government intervention

Laurence Reisman had a good column Jan. 21 on plans for Vero Beach's downtown.

Unfortunately, government often overpromises and underdelivers. Bad ideas, such as municipal power generation, go on far too long and there are few consequences for politicians for being wrong.

I think Andres Duany, the urban planner Vero Beach hired who thinks government should get out of the way, is on to something.

John Dillon, Indian River Shores

Veteran newsman: TCPalm lucky to have local columnist

I was a journalist for 45 years and rose from reporter to owner of media and did not miss kicking all editorial and business management cans along away. I’ve had some 250 journalists report to me at one time.

I say all of that to indicate justification that I know journalists and journalism, news and opinion. TCPalm is so very fortunate to have Laurence Reisman as a regular columnist.

Not only does he have unique background, having been the editor of the Press Journal and opinion editor for TCPalm, but he is fair and balanced in his columns. But even more important, he has the legacy background of living and reporting in Indian River County for several years. He can put current events in Indian River County in perspective.

He also documents reasons for his opinions with facts. And he writes in a clear and entertaining manner. We readers of TCPalm are fortunate to have him.

Stanford Erickson, Vero Beach

Folks with not-in-my-backyard syndrome are the problem

Thank you for a recent letter, which started my day off with a good belly laugh in spite of the cold weather.

The letter writer extolled the perils of the population explosion in Vero Beach, yet she moved there only 10 short years ago.

I hate to be the one to break into her fantasy world, but she, as a card-carrying NIMBY, is the problem she described.

She moved into the beautiful, bucolic village (of Wellington) in 1986 and, oh my, it's morphed into an overcrowded metropolis. But her move had nothing to do with the increase in population, so she moved to Vero Beach, increasing its population (again) and adding to the move toward another overcrowded metropolis.

Boo-hoo to her and all the others who once they find their small, quaint, little town and get settled in, are disgruntled when others follow in their footsteps, always on the lookout for paradise (the same as them), only to discover that others have followed them: "Oh the nerve of these folks!"

My best advice to these folks is to keep moving north as they have done in the past. Maybe others will continue to follow in their footsteps and lessen our population. Then perhaps we can revert back to living in our beautiful, bucolic villages nestled in paradise.

Jan Belwood, Palm City

Do newspaper policies help explain why columnist likes NFL ploy?

In reading Laurence Reisman's Jan. 19 column, I was not surprised to learn that he is a big supporter of the NFL's latest fan abuse, requiring them to pay extra to a streaming service to view an NFL playoff game.

This is in line with this news organization's practice of devaluing long-term subscribers' subscriptions by ceasing to print a Saturday edition along with those for most holidays. Prior to this, I was not aware of any legitimate newspaper serving a market this size or larger failing to print 365 days per year.

As far as the NFL goes, commissioner Roger Goodell, the worst in history, having done nothing for NFL fans, has said that he was elated with the restrictive NBC/Peacock broadcast of the Dolphins/Chiefs playoff game as he felt it provided NFL programming to more viewers. Really?

With the reduction in viewership caused by the NFL's mishandling of the "take a knee" action by a few misguided, ignorant players, this may result in an additional loss of viewers.

What the commissioner and Reisman fail to realize is that viewers are not seeking a free ride, that they in fact are already paying substantial cable fees and requiring them to pay another fee on top of what they already are paying is unjustified and predatory.

Unfortunately, Reisman looks upon the NFL/NBCUniversal as fine "forward-thinking, innovative business folks" who, I suppose, should be commended for taking unfair advantage of so many people. Further, he gives thanks to capitalism for encouraging innovation; I do too, for ethical innovation and public service.

Al Dillon, Hobe Sound

Editor's note: Newspapers in numerous big cities, such as Detroit (2008); Pittsburgh (2018); Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville, Alabama (2012); have cut print production to five days a week or fewer.

Disqualification of Trump in Colorado part of Democrat strategy

Four of seven Colorado Supreme Court justices (all Democrats) voted to disqualify Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s presidential primary ballot “for being accused of engaging in insurrection.”

Two of the three articles relating to the court's decision in this newspaper Jan. 21 took unusual positions.

Thomas Moukawsher contends that an action by the U.S. Supreme Court to quash the action of the state court would be a blatant political action. How about the state court’s action? Isn’t it political for four Democrats to disqualify Trump (a Republican) even though he is the leading opponent to the incumbent and has not been convicted of anything?

John Wood, however, contends that Trump’s popularity is so great that he should be on the ballot even though he is responsible for the Jan. 6 “insurrection.” First, it was a demonstration that turned into a riot — not an insurrection. There were no firearms brandished by the demonstrators and there was no effort to permanently occupy the Capitol building. Second, Trump offered National Guard troops in advance to deal with the demonstration, a fact the House of Representatives speaker omitted in the subsequent hearings.

This is part of the Democrats’ two-fold effort 1) to deflect attention from the Joe Biden impeachment inquiry and 2) to exhaust Trump’s resources and thereby weaken his campaign.

Tom Miller, Vero Beach

Upsetting Trump supporters no reason to keep him on ballot

In response to John Wood's column Jan. 21:

Just because the MAGA faithful will be upset is absolutely no reason to keep Donald Trump on the ballot in Colorado or anywhere else. The United States is now in a position to be able to stop such an "army" of discontent.

If Trump were to win, the United States would become his puppet.

Susan Kotsubka, Sebastian

Beware forgetting history, lest we repeat it

As we witness the public slow-motion meltdown of the shameless, hate-filled narcissistic sociopath — he who shall not be named — let us be reminded that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.

Many young Americans have no knowledge of Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin, both narcissistic sociopaths who murdered millions on the altar of self-idolatry. Americans, we must not let that happen again. Vote in November.

Melissa Reynolds, Vero Beach

DeSantis, Ladapo, public should be embarrassed by his comments on COVID vaccine

Once again, Florida’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, shows he is a political hack who is prostituting his medical and academic credentials to support the anti-science, anti-public health agenda of Ron DeSantis and like-minded Republican legislators.

This endangers the health of Floridians. Editorials by H. Holden Thorp, the editor of Science, the most prestigious science journal in the United States, last April called out Ladapo for his faulty argument opposing vaccinating men between the ages of 18-39 with the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Only last January in a presentation to Nova Southeastern University health professions students, Ladapo advocated the use of gas stoves in homes while at the same time acknowledging their contribution to indoor air pollution that exacerbates asthma in children; with his solution being to “just open the windows.”

Ladapo’s latest attack on COVID-19 vaccination with RNA vaccines that have saved millions of people globally from death and debilitation is yet another example of the danger he poses to the health of Floridians.

Ladapo bastardizes an improbable theoretical construct to argue against the use of these vaccines to prevent severe COVID-19 infections. Based upon his past support of the use of alternative therapies, such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin (now shown to be ineffective against COVID-19 as well as posing a health hazard), for the treatment of COVID-19.

His latest dictate once again shows his determination to promote a flawed political agenda as well as to pursue a pseudochristian mentality of referring to the mRNA vaccines as “antichrist” that is “interfering with our connection to God,” ahead of the universally validated medical science and well-proven public health medicine.

Ladapo should do some homework to learn that approximately 8% of the DNA in our genome is of viral origin, including DNA from RNA viruses (AKA retroviruses like SARS-CoV-2) that have accumulated over many millennia of exposure to viral infections. According to a recent article in Science Magazine, this viral DNA may help our innate protective immunity to certain infectious diseases. It is part of evolving genetic resistance to retroviral disease.

So, Ladapo’s argument that the minuscule probability of viral DNA in the mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 becoming incorporated into our DNA could cause harm is thousands of times less likely than the probability that severe COVID-19 infection will cause death and long-term debilitation.

Florida needs a surgeon general who is going to be guided by rational scientific evidence rather than bastardized, misinterpreted or, worse, misleading conceptualizations that will encourage vaccine hesitancy not only for COVID-19 but for all vaccines, endangering our citizenry and our children who may now fall prey to diseases such as measles and polio that once were all but eliminated by safe and effective vaccines.

Florida hardly needs a surgeon general who is a lapdog to the dystopian aspirations of former presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is not even close to an expert on medical heath issues. DeSantis had pledged to take Ladapo to Washington as the U.S. surgeon general.

Yikes.

Robert C. Speth, Davie, is a professor of pharmaceutical science at Nova Southeastern University and adjunct professor of pharmacology and physiology at Georgetown University; Jose V. Lopez, Hollywood, is a professor of biological sciences at Nova Southeastern University; Stephen J. O’Brien, Hollywood, is a professor at the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences at Nova and director of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity of the National Institutes of Health. These comments should not be construed as representing any of the academic organizations with which we are affiliated.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: NFL, columnist wrong; Vero Beach NIMBY, WWII memorial | Letters