THE LAND OF THE “BRAVE”

Nobody likes righteous indignation and surely I am no shining example of personal sacrifice, having spent four years in a peacetime Army that never once asked me to do what was asked of Sergeant Hart (“Brave Hart,” Artvoice v5n10).

I will try to refrain from being one-sided, but one of the reasons this article bothers me is because the title, you label Sergeant Hart as courageous. I don’t see it. I read the article twice and will sincerely say that I don’t walk away from it with any sense that he conscientiously objected for purposes of peace or principle…or, by moving to Canada, that he has done anything remotely connected with my understanding of the concept of bravery. If by hiding in Toronto, Sergeant Hart faced adversity with an honorable display of courage, it’s lost on me.

I honestly walk away from the article thinking that he signed up, was deployed in 2003, didn’t like it…didn’t get out…and then didn’t want to go back. Do you truly believe that US foreign policy was the most influential factor in this guy’s decision? Or that some ornery captain, commenting about [Jill Hart’s] husband’s and son in a heated moment, somehow justifies folding it all up and moving to Canada?

It’s easy to find fault with purposes and politics, especially when you’re thinking about how much you would rather not go. Sergeant Hart made a commitment, to the volunteer Army, that he was unwilling to honor, despite receiving and spending his paychecks. There are boatloads of soldiers who have families that are struggling and could use their presence at home. They, however, do what holds our country together; they carry out their commitment and, if unwilling to continue, they leave the service when their obligation is over.

Tim Galvin

Buffalo

I’ve recently read an article in your paper which covered a military deserter who had taken refuge in Canada. The paper was sent to me in a care package from a family member to my current residence in Baghdad. It piqued my interest because I had lived in Buffalo my entire life before enlisting in the Army in 2003. Since then, I have been deployed to Afghanistan, and have now returned for an additional tour in Iraq. The reason I’m writing is to express my disgust for Sergeant Hart’s actions as well as those who empathize with him. Furthermore, and I speak for some of my fellow soldiers here as well, it is an absolute disgrace to those in uniform to see such an unworthy and cowardly representative of the US military and the word “courage” being mentioned in the same breath.

If I recall correctly, your article stated that Sergeant Hart had served with a maintenance company in Kuwait before going AWOL after returning home and receiving orders sending him to Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was recently in Kuwait for training before being shipped off to Baghdad and can tell you firsthand exactly how stressful it was; I specifically remember the golden arches of a McDonald’s sign that could be seen from just about anywhere in the particular camp I was staged in. Sergeant Hart’s experiences may have been similar to that of one of Buffalo’s car mechanics, however in a less comfortable environment. Most likely he did not experience anything remotely close to combat, while there have been thousands of other soldiers who actually have but did not turn, run and hide in Canada. I have experienced circumstances where I have been made very afraid, but never once did I consider breaking the oath I took. Do you know why that is? In a word—loyalty. I doubt that Sergeant Hart would know what that word meant if it ran up and slapped him across the face.

Hans P. Kroetsch

SPC, U.S. Army

Baghdad, Iraq

I am writing to say how much I liked your article about Patrick Hart, the war resister. The story of Pat and Jill makes a lot of the issues related to the war come alive. I hope that some people who still support the war will read it. I was particularly struck by the part about how Hart was motivated to keep re-enlisting in good part because of the health insurance.

Gail Radford

Buffalo

CHUCK E. CHEESE: GROSS

To quote a brilliant yet disturbing article about the truth of our lame government:

“And this is the only worldview our children are supposed to receive—lies told by rats superimposed upon their corporate-choreographed birthday parties” (“Getting a Grip,” Artvoice v5n11).

I couldn’t have said it better! Is there any way we can flood the inboxes of the Bush administration with this article? It is so repulsive to me and down-right disgusting how our government manipulates the minds of many and worst of all, those most impressionable, children. I always knew I hated Chuck E. Cheese, but for more obvious reasons—it seemed creepy and chaotic at best, germful and stranger-laden at worst. And the food…yuck! I would be sure to have fed my kids before we ever had to attend a birthday party at that place, and I dissuaded them from crawling through the nightmarish maze overhead. Now I know why I dislike that place. It was only a matter of time before the real reason came forth. Who woulda thunk it?

Carol Yamarino

Buffalo

CURB APPEAL: PARKING TICKETS AND THE BUFFALO POLICE

As a proud, hard-working Buffalo police officer, I would like to comment on a subject that was aired on February 14 on radio WBEN-AM 930 by a very unfair and unbalanced radio talk show host who distorted and twisted the facts.

The subject was parking tickets that were handed out in the City of Buffalo to illegally parked vehicles this past January. There were approximately 3,690 more tickets handed out than were given out in January, 2005. Is this a bad thing? The city, which is desperate for financial help, made revenue of approximately $204,000 due to the hard work and efforts of the Buffalo police. By year’s end, the city stands to make about $2.4 million [from parking fines]. That’s pretty substantial in my opinion and should help matters greatly. We do have a control board here for a reason. The officers should be applauded.

The talk show host, without doing his homework, proceeded to insult and belittle Buffalo police officers for doing something that is part of our job description. He questioned our motive and went on and on about how much time we must have on our hands to write parking tickets to citizens, always avoiding the fact that these victimized citizens were breaking the law. In his opinion, we were punishing people for no good reason by being a terrible bunch of rogue meter-maids giving the elderly added stress and financial strife. He stated that, by having a zero tolerance approach, officers would be alienating ourselves from the public and losing their confidence and trust. This is nonsense, and I would like to educate this radio personality and address his listeners.

Let’s look at the facts. There were 5,610 tags written in January, 2006. If you take that amount and divide it by the number of Buffalo police officers on patrol, which is 500, it averages to about 11.22 tags per officer. If you divide that by an average work week, that would be about 2.8 tags per day. It takes about two minutes to write out a ticket, so therefore it would take approximately 20 minutes out of a 40-hour work week to write the tags that increased the city’s revenue immensely. The other 39 hours and 40 minutes are spent actively fighting hardcore crime. Just turn on the local news at night and you will see many examples of this.

Where did the talk show guy get his facts from? I don’t think the AARP sent out a special memo in regards to the elderly being victimized. No, because most of the people I witnessed receiving tags were middle-aged, able-bodied individuals, too lazy to park down the street and walk. The same type of person that parks in the handicapped spot because it’s convenient. Mentioning the elderly was nothing more than a media tactic to draw a response. He did this consistently throughout his show, always referring to Grandma, her poor meter running out, and a cop just waiting to lunge out of the darkness to issue her a ticket.

I guess he lives in a special kind of place where people can just do what they please with no punishment for their wrongdoings. How would our children ever grow up to know right from wrong. Why are there rules and regulations and why is it important to adhere to them? Did he ever look deeper into the reasoning of parking logic and rationale? No, he did not. He was too busy laughing, joking, insulting and amusing himself.

Can you honestly imagine a city with no existing parking enforcement? Traffic congestion would occur, local businesses would have delays in their deliveries, garbage pickup and plowing would be affected drastically, fire hydrants would be obstructed and people would be in danger of safely going about their business. It would be total chaos! But according to the talk show guy, it’s totally outrageous for us to step it up a bit and enforce some of the out-of-control parking situations throughout the city.

A few weeks ago, I failed to pay attention while attending a concert downtown and received a ticket for parking illegally. I didn’t kick, scream or complain on a radio talk show. I did what a responsible citizen does. I went to city hall a couple of days later and wrote a check for $35. We all need to be accountable for our own actions and stop trying to place blame on everyone else. I am proud and honored to be a Buffalo police officer. If any part of my job makes me unpopular with the local media, too bad. Each day I to go to work, it is to do my job: to serve and defend the city that I love.

Officer Thomas P. Cino

Buffalo Police Department

Buffalo

The whole argument in regard to the Buffalo Police Department’s validity in issuing parking tickets is absurd for two simple reasons.

The first reason is, as a responsible adult, one should be well aware of where one is parking one’s vehicle. We as city residents have become well seasoned to the rules with the help of our parking enforcement officers. If you don’t want a ticket, park correctly. That is as easy as it gets.

Secondly, we voters elected the incompetent leadership that mismanaged our city’s finances. This in turn caused the wage freeze for the Buffalo Police Department. The police department’s answer is logical as far as I’m concerned. The city needs revenue, so they are doing their part in raising it. I say that’s a terrific idea.

I am not speaking without merit; I spent the morning today driving my girlfriend to City Hall and the impound garage because she came out of Canisus College to find a boot on her car and a tow truck on the way. She endured the same opinion from me that I am sharing here.

Teachers, fire fighters and police officers are three professions that should never have to plead for a raise. This would never had come to this if Buffalonians would vote for responsible leaders.

Mike Santoro

Buffalo