Letter to the Editor – 8/21/13
Deedy in charge
I never comment on stories in papers, but this time I felt the need to do so. Oh, yes, and I hardly ever agree with Bob Jones. But this time he hit the nail on the head in his column “What If Deedy Didn’t Pack A Gun?”
Federal agent Christopher Deedy never should have been carrying a firearm that night, for several reasons, most of which Mr. Jones mentioned. Having carried a firearm my entire adult life – 30 years of Air Force Security Police, my last seven years as the Chief of Security Police at Bellows AFS – I know how it makes you feel, especially if you are young and do not have a lot of experience.
Then to add alcohol to the mix is a setup for a disaster. Watching the Zimmerman trial with my grandson, I attempted to explain to him why Zimmerman acted the way he did – it was the false sense of strength having a firearm on him. You will do things you would never, ever do without it. Zimmerman’s job was to observe and report, never to confront, be a good witness for the police when they arrive. But he was carrying a gun, so he felt empowered to act.
Deedy was being bolstered by alcohol and the sense of “I’m in charge here” because of his status and, of course, that gun. A major factor in Deedy’s story is the alcohol impact on everyone involved – at that time of the morning, the majority of the people in McDonald’s all had been drinking.
Donald Dawson,
Retired, USAF
Kaneohe
The real Espero
Dan Boylan’s puff piece on state Sen. Will Espero’s run for Hanabusa’s congressional seat (8/14/2013) had me wondering if he was really talking about the same Sen. Espero his district knows. Sen. Espero is well-known in his district for preventing Ewa Beach from getting a single rail station, saying that his constituents didn’t want rail in their area because it was too “noisy.” He also is known for sitting on his hands when the Fort Weaver Road widening project was delayed for three years because of contractor deficiencies. Hopefully, as the campaigns run up, Congressional District 1 voters will come to know the same Sen. Espero the people in his district have seen.
Garry P. Smith
Ewa Beach
Gobbler
I loved reading Jerry Coffee’s column “A True American Patriot, Hero” about the passing of his Hanoi Hilton friend Col. Bud Day. Like Mr. Coffee, I remember watching Sergeant York as a little kid, loving his gobble, gobble, gobble call to fool the enemy. I had no idea he went on to begin a Bible college. As a pastor here on the North Shore, I thought that was very cool!
Mike Stangel
Haleiwa
Send your letters to MidWeek Letters, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 500, Honolulu, HI 96813, or dchapman@midweek.com.
