Tri-City Herald letters on our Heritage City designation, World War II and Donald Trump
‘Heritage City’ great designation
How wonderful it was to read about the Tri-Cities’ designation as the only World War II Heritage City in Washington state. It was even more encouraging to learn that the Tri-Cities National Parks Committee’s nomination acknowledged the area’s multi-layered history.
Without embracing the richness and complexity of this period, we couldn’t enable the National Parks Service to do its job of telling the full American story. Recently, two sites which are inextricably linked to this WWII story — Morning Star Baptist Church and Kurtzman Park — were listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Not only do these listings document and celebrate what the accompanying Multiple Property Document calls “the Black American Experience in Pasco,” but they join other properties which contribute to Washington State’s cultural heritage.
Tanya Bowers, Pasco
More to read on Hiroshima bomb
The debate of whether the United States should have dropped an atomic weapon continues as we are reminded by Tori Bender in her letter of Dec. 2. What happened to the innocent civilians of Hiroshima was a terrible tragedy. But was it a cavalier decision with no forethought? Absolutely not. The real tragedy of the war was the mindset of the Japanese leadership, who used civilians as pawns in their struggle for power.
In 1945, the United States was preparing to invade Japan in a carefully planned invasion called Operation Olympic. The estimated casualties that would have resulted from an invasion were set at between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Americans. Historians put the number of casualties in Hiroshima at about 130,000, but the actual number is, of course, unknown. The Japanese people had been prepared by their leaders to fight to the death as seen on the islands of Saipan and Okinawa. Civilians on Saipan were told that if they surrendered to the Americans, they would be cannibalized, so they threw their children off a cliff to their deaths and jumped after them. If you want to know more, I suggest the book, “Hell to Pay,” by D. M. Giangreco.
Gordon M. Johnson, Kennewick
Altering bargains flummoxes her
Grocery stores: I was composing a complaint letter, and then somebody else wrote about how they like to search out the deals. I’ll still complain, though.
When I became a housewife, a Welcome Wagon lady visited me and gave me information about reading ads and searching out the best grocery bargains. I have dutifully tried to do that ever since, though I don’t like wasting so much time on it. Remember when they said we wouldn’t need coupons anymore if we got store membership cards? After a while they snuck some back, as well as digital coupons to “clip” online.
Then we had to buy certain numbers of various items to get the best deal, though they changed it to require at least 6, not exactly 6 (then 6 more for another deal.) And now we need to scan a QR code for the best deals. Please!! It would be the last straw if I didn’t need to keep food in the house.
Judith Loomis, Richland
4th Amendment would bar Trump
The other day (Nov. 15), the man who incited his followers to charge Congress, which resulted in the death of several police officers and injured many others, announced he was running again for president in 2024. If, as many citizens, lawyers and judges remind the world, in the U.S., “nobody is above the law,” why then is Trump allowed to seek office when:
... the 14th Amendment provides that public office holders who have taken an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and then engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or who give aid or comfort to enemies of the United States, are barred from serving.
And why has Merrick Garland emphatically not made this clear in a press conference?
Bink Owen, Walla Walla