Wallingford: ashamed – my letter to the editor regarding the veterans and the Wallingford ShowMobile

As published in the Letters to the Editor section of the Record Journal on Sunday May 27, 2012

Editor: Regarding the recent issue with Mayor Dickinson’s decision to deny the use of the showmobile to the veterans, I came to the Wallingford Town Council meeting expecting this to be solely a cost issue where Dickinson didn’t want to expend additional funds. I came prepared to make that payment to the town as I received pledges of a donation as part of the effort to resolve this issue and get the veterans use of the equipment.

The end result, when I specifically asked the mayor: “if there is a way to remove the additional financial component of using the showmobile for the ceremony, can the vets get the permission to use it?” — was that Dickinson responded “no.” His reason was “he doesn’t believe using the showmobile as a reviewing stand is the proper use for the stage” — but why does that matter? If the vets want to use it, and it is going to otherwise sit in mothballs for the day unused, and we had people willing to make the donation to remove additional monetary burden from the town, then why not let them use it?

The veterans served this country, protected its freedoms, and preserved this way of life we have today. All they asked for extra this day was the use of the showmoblie that is otherwise going unused. At the time they served, they were asked to give their everything — and, if needed, their lives. “All gave some, some gave all,” but Wallingford will not lend them use of a portable stage, now that they are in their 70s, to have them be a little more comfortable on a day we are supposed to be paying thanks to them and remembering the fallen that never returned.

That is not my Wallingford — and I am ashamed.

Dickinson denies vets use of ‘showmobile’

As published in the Record Journal, Friday May 25, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235

WALLINGFORD — Some local veterans and town councilors are irked with Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. over his decision to not allow them to use the town’s mobile bandstand stage for Monday’s annual Memorial Day parade.

The town’s Veterans Memorial Committee sent a letter to Dickinson and town councilors this week asking the mayor to reconsider a prior decision to deny them the use of a canopied “showmobile” that the town owns and uses to hold bands and orchestras for municipal events, such as the town fireworks display, instead of an aluminum “reviewing stand,” a smaller platform that the vets have traditionally used.

At the Memorial Day event, the stage is used by local veterans at Doolittle Park during a post-parade military ceremony. The committee said the showmobile stage would be able to hold more people and its shade would keep older veterans out of the sun. The committee had used the showmobile once, in 2010, for this purpose.

File photo / Record-Journal

The portable stage is used for a concert in front of Wallingford Town Hall on July 21, 2010.

“We just thought it was safer for the older people,” said Elise Gallup, secretary of the committee, who sent the letter. “(The mayor) has done a lot for the veterans in town and we felt that to re-appeal to him was the proper thing to do.”

The letter was taken up by the Town Council at the end of Tuesday’s meeting and caused some heated debate between the mayor and councilors, along with veterans in the audience. Republican councilors Craig Fishbein and John Le-Tourneau respectively made and seconded a motion to vote to approve the use as a ceremonial nod of support to the veterans (the council can’t compel the mayor to allow use of the stage) but it never came to a vote.

“These veterans have given everything — I can’t think of a better thing to do, not that they asked for anything in a major way,” said Democratic Councilor Jason Zandri on Thursday. Zandri added the item to Tuesday night’s agenda.

Dickinson said Thursday that he means no disrespect to veterans, but declined the request for two reasons. He said he doesn’t believe using the showmobile as a reviewing stand is the proper use for the stage, and that using it would add significant cost to the event. The reviewing stand can be set up by town workers on Friday and taken down on Tuesday, while the showmobile needs to be set up and removed on Monday, which means double overtime pay for town workers. The town already gives about $3,300 for the event through its public celebrations committee, and that figure doesn’t include labor.

“We’ve always used a reviewing stand,” Dickinson said. “It’s been safe for many years. I just don’t see a need to change what our protocols and procedures are.”

Zandri said he figured it was a cost issue, and came prepared with pledges he’d received from people willing to fund the stage. But he said Dickinson’s statements that the use would be improper stopped him from bringing it up.

“There was nothing I could offer that would let them use it. There’s no solution because the mayor didn’t want a solution,”Zandri said. Vietnam veteran Jerry J. Kennedy has been on the committee since 1973, and said the mayor helped him secure the showmobile in 2010.

“Two years ago, we thought about it — ‘You know, it would be a much better venue to be in,’ ” Kennedy said. “That worked out real nice. It was a hot day. Kids on the field were dropping, but the ones on the stand were cooler.”

Kennedy said the need for a place for older vets to sit has increased — they’re not just talking about World War II veterans.

“You have to realize, your Vietnam vets are in their 60s and 70s now,” Kennedy said.

Pat Lizotte, president of VFW Post 591, was at the Tuesday meeting to see the outcome.

“I’m happy either way,” Lizotte said. “I think everything will go along smoothly.”

Kennedy said he hoped the mayor would reconsider the request someday.

“How much is the overtime compared to the cost of our freedom is what we’re asking. Everybody thinks you can put a price tag on everything,” Kennedy said. “We’re disappointed but not upset. All we can do is keep asking and maybe one day he’ll change his mind.”

Letter to Mayor Dickinson from the Veterans Memorial Committee regarding his decision to not to let them use the Show Mobile for the Memorial Day services on May 28th at Doolittle Park

This is not an item on the agenda but I will be bringing it up at the Council meeting on Tuesday the 22nd to discuss as the Memorial Day services are less than a week of way.

More lead time would have been nice but I just got this via email tonight and they might not have gotten much lead time on this either.



WALLINGFORD VETERANS MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

May 17, 2012

Honorable William W. Dickinson, Jr.
Mayor, Town of Wallingford
45 South Main St.
Wallingford, CT 06492

Dear Mayor Dickinson,

I am writing to you on behalf of the Veterans Memorial Committee. The committee recently had a discussion regarding your decision not to let us use the Show Mobile for our Memorial Day services on May 28^th at Doolittle Park.

We used the Show Mobile two years ago for our services. It not only gave our older veterans and members a shady place to sit with a flat, roomier surface to walk on, it lent a more “finished” appearance to the service.

We would ask that you reconsider your decision, as we feel this is a justified use for the Show Mobile, and there is overtime already being paid for chairs and podium to be put out, police services, etc. We appreciate all your support for the veterans over the years in Wallingford, and feel this small investment will produce a better experience for our aging veterans.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Elise M. Gallup
Secretary
303 Bassett Road
North Haven, CT 06473
(203) 605-8580
cc: Patricia Lizotte, Chairman, Veterans Memorial Committee
Wallingford Town Council

Memorial Day 2011

Thank you to all our U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service of this great country of ours.

Freedom is not free; it has been paid for by the ultimate sacrifice of many.

I know this, I will not forget this, I will teach my kids this and make sure they understand it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day

FROM WALLINGFORD - Memorial Day and legacy

As published in the Record Journal Sunday May 29, 2011

This week’s FROM WALLINGFORD is written by my counterpart on the column – Stephen Knight

Tomorrow is one of our nation’s most important days: Memorial Day — a day of remembrance of and thanks to those who have laid down their lives in service to us, to their country and to the very concept of freedom. It has also become an opportunity to thank those who have served and are still here to hear a grateful nation say it.

But as wonderful as are the speeches and the parades, what makes me even prouder of America are the day-to-day activities that so many Americans are involved in to support our military men and women.

One of those efforts is Holy Joe’s Café, a group within the First Congregational Church of Wallingford supplying donated coffee to military chaplains in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait. I hope you have read one of the recent Record-Journal articles about it, because space does not allow me to give you much detail.

Suffice it to say that Tom Jastermsky, who is heading up the effort, and Carol Wallace, whose company has donated thousands and thousands of dollars packaging and shipping the coffee, are the primary two people who have made this program work.

But there have been others, and I want to use them as examples of some of the support you might never see, support that is given instantly, enthusiastically and with no questions asked other than “when do we start.” CCI Logistics in Wallingford has donated warehouse space for two years now – thousands of dollars worth.

T.R. Brysh, an owner-operator freight hauler; RKZ Trucking; Bailey’s Express of Middletown; Old Dominion Freight Lines and Andreucci Trucking all provided transportation. It costs a lot of money to operate a truck or warehouse, but if it was “for the troops,” they were just grateful to have been asked.

These acts of love and respect for our military are found all over this country. Go to troopsupport.com and you will see an index of ninety-four volunteer groups dedicated to support our military in some way, and that list doesn’t even include large ones such as Fisher House Foundation, Wounded Warrior Project or Soldier’s Angels. Scroll through this list and see if it doesn’t put a lump in your throat and pride in your heart about what America is all about. And think of the thousands of local efforts by school students and others involved in all manner of activities aimed at making sure that members of the United States military know in what high esteem they are held.

There are two reasons for all this effort. The first is obvious. The people in the military service of the United States of America are the best in the world at what they do. The best trained, the most disciplined, the most compassionate and, at the same time, the most humble. Why wouldn’t we support such professionalism?

But the second reason is this: there was a period in our history when we civilians did not conduct ourselves properly when it came to supporting our military personnel. They do not call the Korean War “The Forgotten War” for nothing. And the Viet Nam War? Many, many of us will spend the rest of our lives trying to make right what we did – or more accurately – did not do when soldiers returned from that awful conflict. And we most certainly did not support their efforts when they were in theater as we should have.

So I would like to conclude this piece by speaking directly to those of you who served in these two conflicts: When you see soldiers being cheered as they walk though airports; if you see a stranger walk up to a soldier and say thanks; if you read of efforts such as Holy Joe’s Cafe and thousands of similar projects, know that this is part of your legacy. Some of that love, some of that respect, some of that admiration that you see is for you. It is late, but it is real.

FROM WALLINGFORD - Memorial Day

This week’s FROM WALLINGFORD is written by my counterpart on the column - Stephen Knight

As Published in the Record Journal Sunday May 30, 2010

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Write a letter to the editor letters@record-journal.com

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor those who sacrificed their lives in the service of our country. Over the years, while the day has lost some of its solemnity, it has somewhat evolved into a second Veterans Day, where we not only honor those no longer with us but extend gratitude to those who are. This is entirely appropriate, and, to that end, I would like to excerpt a speech I gave on Veterans Day of 2007: “We are the most fortunate, the most blessed people on earth. We live in the United States of America. I have never been able to say United States of America without thinking what incredible good fortune that is. Never in human history has there been a society of such astonishing opportunity, of such unparalleled freedom and such breathtaking abundance as what we enjoy here. And the bedrock, the foundation of all that makes America great is the essential goodness, dignity and generosity of the American people.”

“We are here today to honor and thank the finest examples of those traits: those citizens among us who have answered the call and continue to answer the call to serve in the armed forces of the United States. From Valley Forge to Lake Champlain to Gettysburg to Verdun to Normandy to the Chosin Reservoir to Hue to Kuwait to Bagdhad to Kandahar and countless other places in the world, the American soldier has stood and defended this country with honor and distinction, first with the ferocity and determination to win the battle and then the kindness and compassion to win the hearts and minds of those they have liberated. They have always conducted themselves under the rules of international law and those of common humanity, and have been quick to condemn those incredibly few within their ranks who would stain that record of honor. And in their service, the American veteran — whether protecting the freedom of hundreds of millions of human beings in peacetime or liberating many hundreds of millions from tyranny and enslavement in wartime, has been a positive force throughout the world and has brought credit to this country.”

“But there is one special trait that, in my mind, makes the American soldier, sailor or airman an almost unique figure in the history of conflict. In almost every armed conflict you can name, one side was pursuing conquest and the other side was defending itself from that subjugation or annihilation. The defenders had a personal stake in the outcome, that oftentimes being survival itself.”

“But if you examine the history of the wars in which America has been involved, especially those in the 20th and 21st century, you see our involvement not only to protect the security and interests of the United States but in a larger sense to defend the concept that liberty and freedom are a basic right of all of humanity. To have risked their lives in defense of this high ideal and not just the protection of their homeland puts the US military men and women in a category unique to human history.”

“Let me give you a quote to illustrate my point from Nicholas Sarkozy, the president of France, speaking to our Congress [on November 8, 2007], ‘…America did not teach men the idea of freedom; she taught them how to practice it. And she fought for this freedom whenever she felt it to be threatened somewhere in the world. It was by watching America grow that men and women understood that freedom was possible.”

“What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind.”

“The men and women of my generation heard their grandparents talk about how in 1917, America saved France at a time when it had reached the final limits of its strengths, which it had exhausted in the most absurd and bloodiest of wars.”

“The men and women of my generation heard their parents talk about how in 1944, America returned to free Europe from the horrifying tyranny that threatened to enslave it.”

“Fathers took their sons to see the vast cemeteries where, under thousands of white crosses so far from home, thousands of young Americans lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others, not to defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend humanity as a whole.’ ” To view photographs of the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France where 9,387 US servicemen are buried is to understand Memorial Day. The sight renders one speechless at the thought of such heroism. That we are privileged to call these people our countrymen is an honor beyond words.”