Letters to the Editor

Articles bring back

a lot of memories

To the Editor:

These past few weeks I have read numerous articles concerning the Korean War and the hardships our young men suffered fighting for freedom. These noteworthy articles are mainly written at this time to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War and to honor all those that served our country during this time.

On June 25 our country observed the 60th anniversary of the invasion of South Korea by the North Koreans. And an armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953 stopping the spread of communism. Many personal memories flood my soul when I read various Korean War articles.

My sailor husband was re-called to active duty, after an honorable discharge from World War II, and was stationed at the North Island Naval Base on Coronado Island in San Diego. I had the good fortune to join him with our young son and a year later gave birth to a baby girl, Susan, at the Balboa Naval Hospital.

Not only was my husband in the Korean War, but my younger brother served from 1951-53. He was on the front lines running heavy equipment to build roads, dig ditches and remove mines.

These 60 years have flown by like a vapor, but the memories of this time are fresh like a daisy as if it all happened yesterday. Now I live within a short distance of Purdue University. The Korean government has sent numerous Korean students to Purdue for research in the field of agriculture; collecting data on soy beans and soil testing. I have had the opportunity and privilege to tutor many young Korean children, teaching them English skills and at the same time learning more from each of them about their culture.

This wonderful privilege and opportunity has been afforded these South Korean families because our young, brave Americans gallantly marched off to war to fight for their freedom.

The Korean War gave South Koreans and people throughout the world freedom, which they would not have if communism had not been stopped. Today, thanks to our young soldiers, the whole world can enjoy traveling to South Korea to participate in their culture and share in their dreams.

The Korean War was not only a fight for South Korea; it was a fight for our own freedom and survival. Let freedom ring with God's hand to lead us and guide us.

Thelma Hoyt

West Lafayette

Chip and seal was

a waste of money

To the Editor:

Recently the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) decided to chip and seal State Road 157 between Bloomfield and Worthington and State Road 59 between Linton and Sandborn.

Highways need repair when traffic causes wear in the tracking lanes along with the riggers of freezing and thawing. This in turn causes stress cracks, and ultimately, causes the shoulders to fold off and begin to break away. Chip and seal will do little or nothing to eliminate the normal deterioration that causes a "state highway" to have to be replaced or resurfaced. It certainly will not do any better job than the standard tar and sand treatment that we have used to fill in cracks on state highways for years.

For those who my differ, please show me the study that indicates with some credibility that this process is anything but a big waste of taxpayer money when installed on "state highways." The idea that chip and seal on the perfectly good surface of a state highway will add five years to its life is like saying a cotton ball is a good way to mop the Tasha Ma Hall. Further, given the cost of automobiles these days it seems to me that the State Highway Department (INDOT) could find a better way to spend our money than to create yet another way besides the necessary use of salt and sand in the winter, to destroy our drive trains, brakes, and paint jobs? Not to mention the unimaginable noise level inside the driving compartment of a vehicle when traveling on one of these masterpieces (roads) after the chip and seal project is complete.

What a totally unacceptable way to spend our tax dollars!

Tim Latimer

Bloomfield