Letters

Noble cause?

Celeste Zappala, Gold Star mother of Army Specialist Sherwood Baker and soi-distant “flower child,” asks what the “noble cause” is for which her son and other members of the United States Armed Forces have died in Iraq, the rhetorical nature of her question outrageously implying that the mission for which over 2,000 Coalition Forces have died is ignoble.

The cause in which her son died was undertaken reluctantly by America and its allies, after many years of ineffective diplomacy and multiple United Nations resolutions, blithely ignored by the Iraqi tyrant, who, secure in the belief that the impotent U.N. could and would do nothing to thwart him, pursued a decade-long policy of rope-a-dope with U.N. weapons inspectors. In a post-Sept. 11 world, America simply could not countenance allowing that sort of conduct to continue indefinitely. Even as Coalition Forces were poised to begin the attack, the president gave the Iraqi dictator one last chance to avoid war by stepping down and going into exile. He unwisely chose not to — and is the one ultimately responsible for Specialist Baker’s death.

In October of 1970, I escorted the shattered body of First Lt. Lawrence Michael Sullivan, a 21-year-old Army officer and fellow graduate of Artillery OCS who was killed in Vietnam, back to his home in Memphis for burial and had to present the ceremoniously folded American flag that had adorned his casket to his inconsolable mother whose stoic and dignified acceptance of that devastating loss is indelibly etched in my memory. Unlike Lt. Sullivan and the vast majority of those whose names are engraved on the Vietnam Memorial and the millions more who answered their nation’s call to arms in that war, Ms. Zappala’s son was a volunteer. Any soldier who fears being called upon to give his life in the service of his country should consider another line of work.

In war, sometimes warriors die; flower children do not. Ms. Zappala’s politically motivated histrionics driven by her flower child ideology not only denigrate and dishonor her son’s heroic sacrifice and that of his fallen comrades, but also demoralize our troops in ways that she could never even begin to understand, and give aid and comfort and hope to our enemies. If she wants the war to end, she should stop giving the so-called “insurgents” reason to continue fighting.

Joseph A. Ferry
Erdenheim

AIDS article ‘gorgeous’

What a gorgeous article and interview you wrote about Jay Chestnut in the Local [8/18/05, “Miracle AIDS patient … “] Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I bought eight copes of the Chestnut Hill Local myself, and I know David Traupman bought many copies as well. Jay was so pleased! And I have already mailed the article to a new official at the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health because I thought you wrote so compassionately about Jay, Keystone Hospice, ArcheDream and the whole process of creating the AIDS benefit.

Thanks again!

Bonnie Squires
Squires Consulting
Wynnewood

It’s politics, people

Much has been made recently, in public and in private, in chats on the Avenue as well as in editorials and opinion pieces on the pages of the Local, of the declining membership of the CHCA.

The reasons for the dwindling numbers over a significant number of years, as well as a recent upswing in registrations, are clear to the casual observer.

It’s the politics, people. There are two factions. Those in power on the CHCA board, the executive committee and various standing committees hoped to hold onto their positions. Surely they were politically astute enough to canvass their friends and neighbors, providing registration cards and urging new members to get out and vote. For them.

Those hoping to rekindle interest in the most local of “governing bodies” were likewise out and about, armed with their own cards, with the hopes of gaining voters and voices.

It’s an educated guess that in an election year in which there are actually enough candidates running for the CHCA board, there will always be an uncharacteristic but marked increase in association membership.

Martha Haley
Chestnut Hill

Add your voice

Springfield voters and nearby residents should be concerned that an important portion of the township code, the AAA zoning district, could be rendered meaningless by two development proposals being considered by our board of commissioners. Developer rezoning proposals for the Boorse tract, 10 Camp Hill Road, and the Tecce tract, in the Springfield Panhandle, would bypass AAA to establish higher density developments restricted to people aged 55 and older. Timing is critical, because both proposals will be considered in separate public hearings during the month of September.

AAA was enacted just two years ago, after long deliberation. A key factor in its adoption was the recognition that the township’s scant remaining undeveloped areas should be safeguarded from wasteful development practices. By requiring a “clustered” design format and specific analysis of environmental features, AAA balances an owner’s right to develop his/her land with the community’s interest in open space preservation and the protection of natural resources.

AAA protects most of the township’s remaining private open spaces; without it, “cookie cutter” development could conceivably occur one day at the Flourtown Country Club, the Sandy Run Country Club, the North Hills Country Club, Carson Valley School, parts of the Morris Arboretum, the 30 acre Piszek Tract in Oreland and other parts of the Springfield Panhandle.

Area residents thus face a crucial test of their resolve to maintain the open space principles upheld by AAA. Please add your voice to those defending AAA by attending the upcoming public hearings and writing, e-mailing or calling the township commissioners.

The hearing on the Boorse Tract is Sept. 14, at the township building, 1510 Paper Mill Road, directly following the 8 p.m. business meeting of the board of commissioners

The hearing on the Tecce Tract is Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. in the technology wing of Springfield High School.

Brennan J. Preine
Friends of the Springfield Panhandle

Points lost

The Local’s coverage of the Water Tower meeting [“Tempers flare, accord sought at Water Tower meeting,” 7/28/05] omitted many points.

First was the sorrow at the loss of loved and respected recreation leader Anthony Maletta. Also, neighbors advanced the need for a street plaque or at least a marker for the Water Tower itself, an important historic landmark of Chestnut Hill, and noted the vast erosion of the field and its perimeter over the past few decades.

Finally, it was stated with unanimous agreement that the open space of the Water Tower Recreation Center and its environs must remain open space.

Catherine Kelly-Albrecht
Chestnut Hill

Editor’s Note: A contributor is working on a tribute to Tony Maletta, to be published in an upcoming Local.

What a kid

Upon relishing the humor of the cartoon in last week’s Kids’ Edition [8/18/05] depicting the man taking his lady friend to an expensive place, I was awed by the insight of the young artist. When I discovered how old Dillon J. Mitchell was, I was in utter disbelief. How could a 10-year-old fellow have the understanding to come up with such a timely and clever concept? The icing on the cake is the balloon where the lady is thinking, “What a guy!” I am inclined to think, “What a kid!”

Marilyn Drinker
Wyndmoor

Preserving Sugarloaf

The Chestnut Hill Historical Society strongly supports Chestnut Hill College in their efforts to acquire the Sugarloaf property.

The college has reached out to many community organizations and neighbors in their efforts to develop plans for the site and to allay concerns about the impact of their proposed expansion to Sugarloaf. They have indicated an interest in preserving significant historic resources and open space.

Sugarloaf’s presence at one of the major gateways to Chestnut Hill makes its preservation vitally important to the community. We recognize and respect the desire of the owners to get market rate for their property. We encourage them to look at the broader impact their actions will have on a community, and find a more creative and responsible way to achieve the same goal.

Chestnut Hill College has been an integral part of the community for generations. With sensitive and thoughtful plans for Sugarloaf, it can be an even better neighbor, preserving a key asset of the community.

George Lyons
Executive Director
Chestnut Hill Historical Society

Let Woodmere grow

The articles that have been in the Chestnut Hill Local regarding Woodmere Art Museum and their expansion have been disturbing to me. Delaying this remarkable addition seems to me a negative in the progress and growth of Chestnut Hill and its surroundings.

Woodmere offers numerous cultural opportunities for this community and the Delaware Valley: there are classes for both adults and children in many different aspects of art, interesting and mind-searching exhibits of all forms and types of art, excellent talks by various artists, art historians, students of art, as well as appealing music concerts. There is an interesting docent program open to all. An extensive slide collection to borrow from is available, and there is an art library for both research and enjoyment.

With all this progress, more room is needed for expansion to make available space for the growing activities. As a volunteer, I have found Woodmere to be a great asset to the Chestnut Hill and Delaware Valley community, and with the expansion, it will have the opportunity to be even more so.

I see no problem, unsolvable, with this addition — just possibilities for growth.

Peggy Sitarchuk
Chestnut Hill

Ignorance not bliss : A few thoughts on the United States’ occupation of Iraq:

The so-called “war on terror” is in reality a competition for the hearts and minds of Arab people in the region whose cooperation is crucial to establishing the rule of law and controlling the security problem in the occupied territories. A major reason why the United States continues to gain no traction in this regard is because the president insists on using the words “freedom” and “democracy” interchangeably. In the Arab world, these two words have, at best, a tenuous connection to each other. In certain quarters of the Islamic community, the words “democracy” and “freedom” have no affinity whatsoever. Those in the administration who persist in this error, unwittingly, display in their ignorance a contempt for the theology and traditions of the people they wish to convert.

The United States of America is, in this part of the world, geopolitically speaking, on the wrong side of history.

This statement is not at all designed as an endorsement of the terrorists. It is not written desirously or gloatingly. The Iraqi insurgents are not “good guys.” (The Vietcong were not “good guys” either and yet they prevailed.) Whether it is fortunately — or unfortunately — the case, the future of the Middle East does not belong to the Saudi princes or the various secular tyrannies holding onto power based on the Western military backing. Nor is a Zionist state going to dominate over Arabs in Palestinian territory indefinitely. Fear of things going wrong in the region is not by itself going to prevent them from happening. Nor will a policy based on military force prevent certain inevitable realities from transpiring.

If this be described as “defeatism” so be it, but the framing of the debate about Iraq along the lines of “good vs. evil” in order to satisfy some form of American (and or) Zionist wish-fulfillment is a recipe for even greater disaster in terms of Western security interests.

By presuming to be able to identify Arab “good guys” from “bad guys” in a foreign culture we clearly know nothing about, this country has played into the hands of the Arab world’s most extremist elements. Fairly soon we will be told by the executors of this disastrous policy that it is now time for us to do “business” with the people who are for today the “devils” who masterminded the resistance against us and the revolution against our corrupt allies. Why not work toward cutting the country’s losses before the onset of complete bankruptcy? A withdrawal from the occupation of Iraq is not only inevitable, it is now overdue.

Jace Gaffney
Chestnut Hill