LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

April 3, 2002 The Waynedale News Staff

To The Editor,

I would like to thank the community for their support during the Christmas Holiday. I know at my fire station it was nice to receive the cake and cookies from Bethany Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve, the three pies on Christmas Day from a gentleman, and the others who brought cookies and other goodies to the fire station.

I know that this was the first time in my career that I have experienced this and it was very heartwarming to be the recipient of the outpouring of community support for those of us that worked over the Christmas holiday.

Thanks again,

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Respectfully submitted,

Capt. Ron Hamm #45

Fort Wayne Fire Station 5 “B” Shift
5801 Bluffton Road
Fort Wayne, IN 46819
260-427-2186

TO THE EDITOR, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, AND TO ALL HUSBANDS,

It is by experience that I write this article. After my husband, Audie, retired he learned that his clean clothes did not just appear in the drawers and clean clothes in the closet; hot meals did not just appear on the table like magic or when stuff was spilled on the floor it didn’t just magically disappear or how the living room was always apple pie order when he got home from work.

Now before you might think he must have been stupid not to know how all this came about, he was not ignorant of all that was happening around here at home, but just didn’t, like so many husbands, more that we can ever know, take these things for granted.

Also, how many of us wives really know just what all our husbands do around the house? A screen door that has been sagging for a long time suddenly is fixed; a leaking lavatory suddenly no longer leaks; the headlight on the car that was smashed when you tried to push your son’s car to get it started is no longer smashed but appears to have never happened. I could go on and on with things my husband did around the house, knowing that he did these things but just like the expression says, “In one ear and out the other,” UNTIL one day you face widowhood.

Now you really begin to see what all he did do and you don’t know how to fix and do so many things. For instance:

A wreck and he takes care of all the details.

Bills have to be paid and he pays them, although my husband and I always worked on this together but so many couples do not do this.

He handles the checkbook so you don’t know how to balance the checkbook or write a check or know how much is in the bank, you just trust him.

Property is bought and he takes care of all the paper work and seeing the lawyer, and all you do is sign your name after everything is taken care of.

You trust your husband as he does you BUT when one of you is left behind by death then what? Sometimes it is the wife that takes care of all these things and it is just as bad.

All I can relate to is that I am a widow now but a lot I could do, and he let me, or we worked together but there are things I have never done and we did not think about it at the time “what if there come a time when I had to do these things all by myself?” My latest experience was a car wreck, next came taking care of getting the trees trimmed; the driveway resurfaced; preparing taxes, who do I get; the toilet needs a new seal; a vent pipe replaced so it is safe; a new furnace replaced; etc. etc.

Husbands, get busy and teach your wives all you can possibly teach them if you should be taken first. Where to go for help, who do you contact? Etc. etc. Now wives, teach your husbands how to cook, and by the way there are husbands that are better cooks than their wives, we aren’t talking about them, just the ones who do not cook. Also, teach them how to separate clothes to wash and make them acquainted with the functions of a washing machine and an ironing board and the sewing machine.

My husband could use all these, in fact, he could iron a white shirt better than I could. The Army helped out a lot along these lines, BUT Audie didn’t teach me how to fix the faucet, light the hot water heater, change a tire, or do other things about the car which I really did need to know. It didn’t seem to be important at the time but now . . .

Through all this, I am so thankful to the Lord that he gave me two wonderful sons and a daughter that helps me. But he gave me a wonderful son-in-law that has been such a wonderful blessing to me in doing so many things around the house that needed to be done. I say “God Bless Him.” But there are so many wives that do not have this kind of help when their husbands go, so husbands please teach your wife all you can, ditto for the wives too. God Bless.

signed,

J. Katharine McCray

Waynedale News,

I’d like to point out that, without the genius of eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, tens of thousands more American military men and women would’ve been killed in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam and that he, more than anyone else, was the chief factor in building America’s military strength. In 1931, Hughes’ Tool Company created drill bits, which increased oil extraction 12-fold and cut drilling time in half. Without plentiful oil and its derivatives, it is possible that we could’ve lost World War II. In 1941, Hughes became the largest supplier of weapons to the United States for World War II. 1941-43, he doubled the rate of fire for 50 caliber machine guns by designing a revolutionary new feed chute. In 1947, he created the airborn troop carrier, which enables soldiers and equipment to arrive at conflict zones in hours instead of days.

1950-56, Hughes’ invention of the air-to-air missile with seek-and-find radar made him so valuable to the military that President Harry Truman called him “the human linchpin of America’s air defenses.” In 1959, Hughes developed the battle-conditioned helicopter, used extensively in the Vietnam conflict. In the 1960’s, he invented the first unmanned satellite, ushering in the era of communications craft in the sky, which has become an integral part of the modern world.

signed,

Terry Smith

(From a S.A.L. (Sons of the American Legion) Newsletter)

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

The younger generation now says we shouldn’t have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. But before you can come to this kind of conclusion, you have to stop and think that there were a lot of U.S. prisoners in Japan. I happen to know one of them and he told me his Japanese guards had already been given orders to shoot all of the prisoners if we invaded Japan. How can anybody say we shouldn’t have dropped this bomb when I honestly believe it saved a lot of American lives? Our old ship was a part of that history. This was war and you have to understand that you’re sitting out there and there is some enemy trying to kill you every single minute, every single hour of the day and you never know for sure when it’s gonna come. Wait until you’re in that position, then you might be able to make some comment on the bomb with some kind of intelligence.

Glen Morgan-Bryan College Station, TX