Letter to the Editor - I can't help but wonder …

Editor,

It’s Memorial Day. I attended the always-moving ceremony at the courthouse and knew many of the living and recognized a lot of the names those who have passed this year. It always is my thought that no tribute ever is enough for those who have given so much for this nation and sacrificed so greatly.

I can’t help but wonder if more than just a few of us at the courthouse sadly thought about Congress possibly holding veterans benefits, surviving family benefits and medical opportunities, etc., basically hostage for political reasons.

From the commemoration, I went to the cemetery, my third visit for the week. Saturday flowers were placed on family plots; a bit of extra time was taken for my father, a Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient. He was always concerned that my mother would live longer than she would and survivor’s benefits might not allow her to be comfortable like he had hoped.

I can’t help but wonder how many people, both veterans and non-veterans, for several weeks have felt uncertainty as D.C. appeared indifferent toward the impact of an unresolved debt limit, and how millions of lives could be affected.

Sunday, I took a walk-around of a lot of the older parts of the cemetery. So many headstones took me back to families I knew in my early years or people I recall my parents or grandparents mentioning. It seems a lot of sacrifice was part of so many of those days. Today, Monday, my focus was on various veterans’ graves, and it’s obvious again that as far back as WWI, families in this area sacrificed so much throughout wars since.

I can’t help but wonder, having heard that U.S. representatives would need to cut days off short, how much that “sacrifice” stacks up to real ones!

We can only hope that, by the time this letter might be printed, those folks who are in Washington “for the people” will end the party-driven divisiveness, prevent needless hardship for so much of our population, and allow our nation to retain some trust and respect from other nations.

Gary L. Springer

Havre