Guilt by association
The U.S Attorney’s office (“NE man, 89, arrested in connection to WWII concentration camps”; June 25 edition of the Northeast Times) just about convicts an 89-year-old American citizen of war crimes, despite the fact that not a shred of evidence exists that he as much as touched a hair on the head of any of the concentration camp prisoners. He says he was was forced to serve as a guard when he was 19 years old.
Let us draw a parallel between Nazi and Communist war crimes. Quite a few of those who came to the U.S. from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and ’80s did not even bother concealing their membership in the Communist Party.
How come our Justice Department never investigated and prosecuted them for serving the “evil empire” and aiding in the persecution of Jewish, Ukrainian and other Soviet political dissidents?
If a man is considered guilty just because he belonged to a group (in this case, the camp guards of the Nazi regime) — although there is no proof of his individual evil actions — then why not consider all those who were members of the Communist Party of the Soviet regime as also being guilty by association in persecuting their freedom-loving fellow citizens, regardless of whether there is any proof of their individual guilt?
Leo Iwaskiw
Somerton
It’s your civic duty
Why do most people avoid appearing for jury duty? Maybe it’s because of the inconvenience of traveling to Center City.
Could it be the enormous sum of $9 paid for each day of service and the $10 spent for lunch every day? Maybe it’s the sitting around waiting to be called, and then after you are selected, waiting for the judge to appear.
Forget all those excuses. The city says it is your civic duty to serve on jury duty.
If you don’t, they’re coming after you.
Marvin Garber
Pennypack
Congress must act now and help our veterans
Congress must act now for our veterans. The Veterans Affairs’ recent scandal has excited veterans’ organizations all across the country demanding they resolve the mismanagement and poor leadership of VA medical centers nationwide.
Investigative reports continue to show there is more than meets the eye. There are deaths of veterans waiting for medical attention for months on end and illnesses that have worsened due to lack of attention.
Our Congress, Senate and President Obama are on the bandwagon about wanting answers. Why did they not take action years ago when they received complaints from veterans? It was known well over a decade ago about mistreatment. Now we have needless deaths that could have been prevented and illnesses that could have been better treated.
America has some of the finest medical resources in the world, but to put those resources to work for our veterans cost dollars. Is it cheaper to bury a veteran than to provide proper medical care for those who fought for our freedom?
There is an active House Bill HR-543, The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Agent Orange Act. There are 227 co-sponsors. We need to get this bill out of committee to the House floor. This bill will become a milestone toward providing equitable VA benefits for thousands of veterans, saving lives and provide better quality of life.
I urge all Americans to contact their members of Congress who are not co-sponsors and ask them to become co-sponsors of this important legislation. It will also lead to other legislation for veterans.
John J. Bury
Media
