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Letters to the Editor While the staff at VFW magazine appreciates all the feedback we get, there is simply not enough room in Mail Call each month to publish all letters to the editor. The following are in response to our April issue, but were not able to be printed in a subsequent issue. Please note that VFW magazine only publishes letters to the editor that are 100 words or less and pertain to the previous month's editorial content. If you would like to submit a letter, e-mail magazine@vfw.org. What You Said About the April IssueI would like to pay tribute to the families of those service members that stayed home and had to manage work, kids, home repairs and the constant feeling of not knowing what is happening to their loved one while he/she is deployed. They deserve just as much recognition as their service member. Thanks to all the families who have also endured the hardship of a deployment. Maj. John Naastad Re: "On Gonzo Station": The USS Midway and its task force were the first on station after the Iranian hostage taking. The Nimitz relieved us. The Midway lost two sailors in a collision in the Malaccan Straits with a Liberian tanker while we were returning to Gonzo. The Midway lived at Gonzo for almost two years. CV-41 was permanently stationed out of Yokuska, Japan. Everybody else was a "tourist." Khris Z. Cooper Kingman, Ariz. I look forward to reading VFW magazine each month. In "On Gonzo Station," the author stated the carrier Eisenhower and escorts returned to the U.S. on Dec. 22, 1980, after a 251-day deployment--then the Navy's longest since WWII. The USS Hancock was deployed to the South China Sea nine times during the Vietnam War. It was deployed Nov. 10, 1965, and returned Aug. 1, 1966, for 265 days. The longest deployment for the Hancock was from Jan. 7, 1972, to Oct. 3, 1972, for 270 days. I suspect there were several other carriers of that time that also exceeded 251 days. Frank E. Blum "Ode to Coal Miners" by Janie Blankenship is a great article--hats off to Janie. My dad, mom, two brothers and sister left Alabama in 1935 and went to Minden, W. Va., for my dad to work in the coal mines. The mines saved us. Bob McKeever Cottonwood, Ariz. Thank you for paying tribute to the backbone of this great country of ours: coal miners. My worst scare as a coal miner was while employed at the Rosedale coal mine in Johnstown, Pa. The timber next to my partner shattered. I never can remember how we came out of that low area. If it had been a cave-in, we would never have made it out alive. Shortly after that I left the coal mines and was inducted into the Navy. Albert D. DiVicenzo Dearborn, Mich. I read with interest your article--"VFW's South Dakota Pheasant Hunt: 'Best Experience of My Life'"--on pheasant hunting with veterans. During WWII, I was a student at South Dakota State University as part of an Army program to train engineers. Pheasants were abundant, and the residents of Brookings, S.D., loaned us shotguns for a hunt. Twenty-five of us killed enough to feed 200 soldiers for the best Thanksgiving dinner I ever had. I always think of the pheasant dinner on Thanksgiving. Clarence Arnow Cottonwood, Ariz. |