Opinion

“Look out! Run for your life,” Sgt. Clifford Sims shouted to his platoon after hearing the all-too-familiar clicking sound in the dense underbrush. Too late. The Vietnamese booby trap exploded as Sims unhesitatingly hurled himself upon the device, taking its full impact. His blood-soaked flesh scattered in a hundred different directions. He gave his life to save theirs. Sims earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his sacrifice.

I am writing concerning the disrespect shown to the soldiers who gave their lives defending this country. I am a student at Lancaster High School and I feel that the Lancaster County School Board’s decision to have school on Memorial Day is very hypocritical. We are taught in school to honor and respect the ones who decide to serve in the military and fight for our freedoms and yet the school board decides that it is justified to have classes rather than show the very respect they teach us to have.

I, like many people around Lancaster, are descendants of men who helped bury the dead at the Buford battle site. At that time, it was called Wild Cat.

In one book on Andrew Jackson, he mentioned two men, a Carnes and an Usher. There had to be many more to be able to dig two graves, one large with more than 80 men in it, and a smaller one with at least 29.

On Sept. 20, 2002, my life was changed forever when a drunken driver swerved into my lane and hit my car head-on, causing me to lose an eye and shattering the bones in one of my legs. I am now permanently disabled because of another man’s irresponsible attitude about abusing alcohol.

That is why I was so shocked and offended when I learned that one of our elected officials, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, also has a cavalier attitude about abusing alcohol.

South Carolina’s drunk driving law will have more bite in February 2009. That’s when tougher penalties go into effect and some loopholes in the existing law are set to go out of effect. You’d be pressed to find anyone in law enforcement or in the prosecution of drunk drivers who’d argue the driving under the influence law in South Carolina didn’t need revising.

“O say can you see by the dawn’s early light... for the land of the free and the home of the brave.” How we love the song “The Star-Spangled Banner.” America is the home of the brave. I was very fortunate to grow up in a home full of the brave.

My grandfather, the late L.C. Ormand, served in the army. He fought in World War II. I remember a strong man who was full of grace and braveness.

Tom Morgan wrote in his letter in the May 14 edition of The Lancaster News about the post office landscape being neglected. Acting postmaster Dean Roberts said the problem was corrected earlier that week. Roberts said there were problems with the lawnmower and other grass-cutting equipment.

My name is Mary Phillips. I am the aunt of Daniel Workman, who is 10 years old and attends Erwin Elementary. Daniel was recently baptized at White Springs Baptist Church.

Recently, while I was shopping for groceries at Wal-Mart, Daniel and my daughter, Karli, were in the game room playing.

After checking out, I went to the game room to get them and Daniel was standing beside the huge bubble gum machine. Daniel said he couldn’t go then because he was guarding the machine. It seems the back had come off of the machine and piles of quarters were in full view.

It’s not rocket science. If you clearcut the land, build multi-housing developments and move people in, you are going to increase the need for services. Those services include adequate infrastructure – roads, utilities, etc. – more law enforcement and emergency medical services.

And it’s a good bet that many of those moving into the new housing developments are children, children who need to be educated – in our schools that are already bursting at the seams.