Violence calls for vigilance

6/25/14 Chatterbox
Betty Kaiser

The recent gunning down of police and another school shooting triggered this column commentary. Our country seems to be running amok with an abundance of serial killer mentalities—Illogical, deranged people killing their fellow citizens. Again and again, we have questions: Why the killer rage and hostility? Why is it not recognized or reported? Why are the targets often school children?

The answers are elusive. These questions have been asked for decades without solutions. The United States has the dubious distinction of the highest number of school related shootings in the world. A shooting being defined as when weapons are discharged at a school, in a school bus or near a school when school is in session.

The shooting list begins in the 1800s but escalated in the 20th century. Schools such as: The Michigan Bath School, Columbine, The Texas Clock Tower Shooting, Virginia Tech, Thurston High School and The Newtown massacre. The weapons include rifles, guns, bombs and knives. But the problem starts in the mind.

Motives are usually rage and revenge. The Internet can now be added as a contributor. In fact, an on-line computer simulation game surfaced after Newtown. Titled “The slaying of Sandy Hook Elementary School,” it encouraged users to re-enact the slaying!

In the first two weeks of June 2014, individuals planned and carried out a variety of horrific murders. None of the devious deeds seem to have a common denominator. It is one or two deranged individuals acting out for their own deluded satisfaction.

June 4, two 12-year old girls in Waukesha, Wisconsin, were charged with stabbing and nearly killing a ‘friend.’ No gun. Just knives. They lured her into the woods, viciously stabbed her 19 times and left her for dead. Amazingly, she crawled out of the woods onto a path where a bicyclist found her. She is now out of the hospital because, as she said, “I wanted to live.”

The motive for the planned murder was to please “Slender Man,” a fictional online horror character. “He” is a paranormal being who lurks near forests and absorbs, kills or carries off his victims, often targeting children. The perpetrators show no remorse and their school principal says, “All three were good kids…no issues…nothing on the radar.” Wrong. Good kids don’t kill.

That same day, in Moncton, N.B., a gunman went on a shooting rampage that left three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers dead and two others injured. Video images in the usually peaceful wooded area showed him roaming the streets, dressed in camouflage and a headband; armed with a crossbow and rifle carried bandoleer style across his chest. He was apprehended after a 30-hour manhunt but not before he put an entire community on lockdown.

June 5, a man walked into a Seattle Pacific University hall fired a shotgun, killing one person and wounding others. A quick thinking building monitor (armed with pepper spray) tackled and disarmed the 26-year-old suspect who is rumored to have a long history of mental problems. His diary said, “I just want people to die and I’m going to die with them.”  Did anyone know he felt this way?

June 8, a young married couple, in Las Vegas, gunned down two police officers having lunch. The officers died from their injuries but not before one of them fired back. Still armed with guns and ammunition the couple walked next door to Wal-Mart and killed a customer before the wife shot her husband and then herself.

According to witnesses the couple wanted to start a “revolution” and constantly talked about killing cops. Later a swastika was found at their apartment leading to speculation that they were involved in a white supremacy movement. Why didn’t someone report them?

June 10, a teen gunman armed with a rifle, shot and killed a fellow student at Reynolds High School in Troutdale Oregon. He also wounded the teacher who sounded the alarm. Then he killed himself. His parents are a loss to know why he did this.

All of the above killings were planned. None of them were spur of the moment choices. Most kill their victims and then kill themselves. Their actions are unfathomable. There is no rational answer or antidote for this kind of behavior.

My generation likes to think that the triggers include: violence in movies, TV and computer games; cell phones, lack of discipline, too much idle time, no moral compass, availability of illegal drugs, etc. Professionals point to the proliferation of unrecognized and untreated mental illness. Everyone has an opinion but that’s as far as it goes.

We only agree on one thing…we want the killing to stop.

My grandsons go to schools where safety is serious business. Betsy, my daughter-in-law, is a middle school teacher and in charge of safety for her wing of the school. In evacuations or other emergencies she puts on an orange vest, dons a hard hat and carries a walkie talkie. Teachers take their roll books as kids form lines outside. All must be accounted for as they leave and return. At school!

A “Shelter in Place” drill over the intercom means the doors are immediately locked, blinds pulled and everyone presses against the walls away from windows. Kids take the drills seriously or are suspended. What a burden those teachers and youngsters bear.

We cannot afford to be apathetic. This “problem” is not going away. Experts are full of advice about what to do when something happens but we don’t know how to stop it from happening. If ever there was a time that we needed the Wisdom of Solomon, it is now.

I guess we all need to be a type of Solomon—alert and prepared to make wise decisions when chaos unfolds around us. We can’t let evil win. We must be vigilant, ready to act and pray. God help us all!

American heroes of all stripes

5/28/14 Chatterbox
Betty Kaiser

America: Home of the free because of the brave. That sentiment is so true that it’s even on tee shirts and bumper stickers. On this day we stop and honor all those who have died serving our country. And so many of the brave have died to make us the home of the free—including four-footed critters.

Our country’s wars began with the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and have just kept coming. They are: the First Barbary War, War of 1812, Mexican-American War, American Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Then came the Gulf War, Vietnam War, Iraq War and the Afghanistan War that continues on.

All of these wars and other skirmishes were unique except in one way—the unspeakable horror of loss of life and suffering on both sides of conflict. In our country alone, according to one source there have been approximately 1,343,812 deaths; 1,529,230 wounded and 38,159 missing in all U.S. conflict casualties.

These staggering numbers sadden my heart as I consider the battlefields all over the world. Then I received several email copies of concocted heroism that just plain made me mad.  There are so many true stories about ordinary people. Why lie about actors?

Two WWII heroes were highly praised. Actors Lee Marvin and Bob Keeshan (aka Captain Kangaroo). Marvin is quoted inaccurately as saying that he was in the initial Iwo Jima landing, earned the Navy Cross and was severely wounded. According to snopes.com part of that is true but not accurate. So folks, don’t believe everything that you read.

Marvin did enlist in the U.S. Marines; saw action as Private First Class in the Pacific during WWII; and was wounded by fire in the buttocks which severed his sciatic nerve. However, his injury occurred during the battle for Saipan in 1944 and not Iwo Jima. That took place in 1945. He also received a Purple Heart and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery. The man was a true hero just not the Internet version.

Another Internet legend has Marvin serving under Keeshan and calling him “the bravest man I ever knew.” Well, that’s not true either.  Keeshan did enlist in the U.S. Marines shortly before his 18TH birthday but months after the fighting at Iwo Jima. He was too late to see any action during WWII. In 1977 he was quoted as saying he  “saw no combat because I signed up just before we dropped the atom bomb.”

The legends get even worse when Fred Rogers gets thrown into the mix. His popular television program “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood” ran for 30 years, enchanting millions of children. A Presbyterian minister, his critics looked for ways to malign him. This popular, decent, clean-cut guy was rumored to have a violent, criminal and Vietnam military background. Again, it is not true! Rogers was a pacifist and he never served in the military.

I believe that all those who serve our country—particularly in times of war—are heroes. And some of those are of the four-legged variety. In the early days there were horses. Today, dogs coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq are awe-inspiring. Their contribution to the safekeeping of their two-legged counterparts is priceless and their stories are true.

Historical reports say that dogs were common during the Civil War as soldier’s companions. During the Spanish American War, “Old Jack Brutus” became the official mascot of Company K, First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. But it was during WWII, Korea and Vietnam that dogs were formally used as guards and patrol scouts.

“Stubby,” a brave soldier dog of the 102nd Infantry (Connecticut), during WWI is widely regarded as the grandfather of the American War Dogs. Connecticut military legend has it that he wandered into the encampment and befriended the soldiers, especially Corporal J. Robert Conroy. In Oct. 1917, when the unit shipped out for France, it was part of the 26TH (Yankee) division of Massachusetts. Stubby (covered in an overcoat) was smuggled aboard the troop ship S.S. Minnesota and sailed into doggy legend.

Fighting in France was treacherous. Trench warfare combined with deadly gas took a steep toll on the men and their spirits. Stubby boosted morale with his early warnings about gas attacks and by waking a sleeping sentry to alert him of a German attack. He was gassed a few times, a grenade went off and his foreleg was wounded.

After the American troops recaptured Chateau Thierry, the women in the village made him a chamois blanket embroidered with the allied flags. The blanket also displayed his wound stripe, three service chevrons and numerous medals. They presented it to him in Neufchateau, the home of Joan of Arc.

Stubby and his wounded master Corporal Conroy ended up in a hospital but spent the remainder of the war with the 102ND unit. He was smuggled back home the same way he entered—and mustered out with his regiment, as officers looked the other way.

At home, he was hailed as a hero of 17 battles, became the mascot of the American Legion, was honored by three presidents and General Pershing presented him with a gold medal. While his master studied law, he became the mascot for the Georgetown football team. He had his portrait painted by Charles Ayer Whipple and in 1926 he passed on. His obituary in the New York Times was three columns wide and half a page long! He was a genuine hero.

America’s military personnel come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; male and female; two and four-legged, furry and clean-shaven. They demonstrate loyalty, courage, selflessness and dedication. They are always worthy of our respect and care. Take time to thank them as they work for the greater good of us all. They are priceless treasures.

Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox is about people, places, family, and other matters of the heart.