Latest news with #D-DayMemorial
San Francisco Chronicle
04-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: What do freedom and liberty mean on this Independence Day?
Last month, at a D-Day Memorial event in France, 101-year-old veteran Harold Terrens said, 'Freedom is everything. I pray for freedom for the whole world.' President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said that the Founding Fathers 'proclaimed to all the world the revolutionary doctrine of the divine right of the common man." Proclaiming that all men are created equal and carry with them God-given rights to life and liberty was indeed a revolutionary idea 249 years ago. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world lives freely. The United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights states, 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.' Let us hope and pray that someday soon, every man, woman and child in the world will enjoy the same freedoms that we Americans enjoy this Independence Day. Pete Campbell, San Jose Honor founding ideals As we celebrate the 249th anniversary of Independence Day, we should ask ourselves the same question that President Donald Trump struggled to answer from the Oval Office recently: What does the Declaration of Independence mean to you? Unfortunately, Trump's response was a manifestation of his historical illiteracy — 'a declaration of unity and love and respect, and it means a lot.' It had nothing to do with the decision of the Founding Fathers to declare independence from British rule by seeking 'to dissolve the political bands' with an oppressive monarchy. Independence Day should serve as a reminder that thousands gave their lives to escape the bonds of a government where a single person held supreme authority. It is a day set aside to commemorate the birth of our nation and to celebrate its core principles of liberty and equality, something inexcusably outside of the president's grasp. Jim Paladino, Tampa, Fla. Community led the way Only after that did Supervisor Joel Engardio support a nonbinding resolution — Proposition G — which voters passed overwhelmingly. Let's be clear: Engardio did not start this movement. He was invited in after the heavy lifting was done. It's wrong for him to now take credit as a campaign talking point. Public education deserves more than opportunistic politics. Our children deserve leaders who lead from the start — not just when it's popular. Selena Chu, San Francisco Trash the new cans Regarding 'S.F.'s quest for a better trash can was plagued by high costs. Will this time be different?' (San Francisco, July 1): This story brings back memories of the original interminable squabbles over the cost and design of new San Francisco garbage cans. I recall the mock-ups as ugly and impractical. It is hard to believe, given the city budget deficit, that Public Works has decided to spend $3,000 each for 3,000 new cans. The chosen design looks like shiny stainless steel and is covered with multiple, vertical and elevated strips of metal. Imagine the difficulty cleaning the graffiti embedded in all those recessed areas. A sleek, simple and flat design should have won the day. Karen Cliffe, San Francisco Don't mince words Let's skip the cute names like 'Alligator Alcatraz' and call the Trump administration's new Florida immigration detention center what it is: a concentration camp. Prisoners at the real Alcatraz landed there after going through a trial, not just being rounded up by masked goons without warrants. Our country is headed in a bad direction, and it's important for us to speak about it truthfully. Siobhan Ruck, San Francisco
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Southwest & Central Virginia Honor Flight prepares for 10th annual trip to Washington D.C.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – Southwest and Central Virginia will celebrate the 10th annual Honor Flight that is set to take off to bring veterans from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam the chance to visit memorials created in their honor. It is said to be a journey of a lifetime to give veterans who were not properly thanked for their service a chance to receive thanks. The Honor Flight will take place in Washington, D.C., from April 4 to 6, and the visiting veterans will be free of charge. Martin Leamy joined WFXR News to share more information about this opportunity for veterans. Martin Leamy said, 'The Honor Flight is a Nationwide organization comprised of regional hubs or chapters that is a nonprofit organization. We do our own trip planning, fundraising, marketing, and most of the hubs do the geography fly into the D.C. area to visit the memorial. There is about eight of us that are close enough to ride a bus up there, and that's kind of our situation. We are actually honor bus if you want to put it that way.' Leamy talked about how eye-opening it is to see veterans coming to visit as their mission is to take veterans up there to see the memorials created in their honor. He explained that the visitation of the men and women is a 'means to an end' to bring the veterans closure and healing and the gratitude that many did not receive when they returned from overseas. Honor Flight taking local veterans to Washington D.C. in recognition of service Leamy got involved with the Honor Flight when he first started as the Director of Facilities and Risk management for the National D-Day Memorial in Tennessee. The Tennessee Hub would stop there, and he worked with them on their visiting logistics. 2014 was the 70th anniversary of the D-Day attack, and he worked with Jeff Miller to bring around 320 WWII and D-Day veterans from Tennessee and South Florida to see the commemoration ceremony. Leamy said, 'I got to know Jeff Pretty Well, and he invited me to start participating in their Honor Flight summit, which is their annual meeting up in Baltimore. I was up there plugging the memorial for about two years, and I had this epiphany, 'Hey you need to look at the map to see where the hubs are in Virginia.' I looked, and there was one in Tide Water, and there was one up in Stephen City, which is up near Winchester, and there was a big hole in our part of Virginia.' He then went to Jeff to get into the business to get a role to get Southwest, Virginia on a flight, and 2018 was when they took the inaugural trip. This event is still in need of volunteers and has no paid staff as they have guardians that aid the veterans on the trip. The guardian's primary job is to ensure veteran safety to prevent a fall especially as they get off the bus. Guardians are trained for three hours before the event to be the companion of the veteran during the entire trip. Guardians are asked to donate $400 to help cover their trip costs, and their applications are screened and accepted on a first come, first serve basis. To learn more or to apply as a guardian, you can visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
