The wonder of it all
I had the privilege to be one of the Veterans to go on the recent Honor Flight to Washington.
Having known several vets who went on previous Honor Flights, I thought that I knew what to expect.
It’s one of those experiences that no conversation can adequately come close to describing. It has to
be personally experienced firsthand. A good analogy, perhaps, might be like having a baby in that you think you know all about it, but you have to actually experience it to really comprehend the wonder of it all!
I am always hesitant to speak for a group, but I believe that I can for the great veteran brothers who
went on Honor Fight #21. Brothers in this regard include the female veterans as well. For most (if not all}
there is a lingering hole in our hearts. Because beyond our family and friends, there was scant acknowledgment of where we had been, what we had seen, and done. It was more likely that any acknowledgment was the kind that you did not want to receive, so you got out of your uniform as quickly as you could and went on as best you could, but always and always, there was that hole in your heart. Many will confirm that we were not even welcome in Veterans Clubs.
Then, after decades, a miracle occurs, complete with angels. It comes in the form of The Honor Flight
and its mission is to patch heart holes.
Words cannot can not express my gratitude and respect for the men and women of the Southern Colorado Honor Flight team. They took care of all our needs, and they did it as friends and with a smile.
I love you all and I can say it with a measure of certainty that all the vets on Flight #21 will concur.
Special thanks to the children and staff of Colorado Christian School and to TOP on the Blue bus
who kept us smiling and laughing.
Len Bentley
Colorado Springs
Winter road safety
I am writing about my concerns for road safety during this upcoming winter season. Last year I had to drive through multiple blizzards and snow mounds to get to school and work. This put an enormous amount of pressure on me and caused me to be late to school multiple times because I drove as slow as I could.
Even while driving slowly, I still slid around and nearly crashed or got my car stuck several times. I think that the city could do more to prevent ice and snow build up on the roads. They could expand their reach into neighborhood roads with smaller trucks, and start salting the roads in advance.
They could also increase funding for snow plows and salt for the roads and sidewalks to maximize citizen safety.
George Janoso
Colorado Springs
Is this really America?
It isn’t just performers who have been harassed and canceled for their speech, but audiences as well. Last Friday I was denied entry to a music concert at Fiddlers Green because I was wearing a Free Palestine T-shirt. I could only enter if I put on a jacket, and was given a stern warning at the gate to keep the jacket on. Does anyone else find this absurd?
I truly found it laughable that a little old lady such as myself was deemed some type of threat because of my clothing. How long has this been going on? Is this really America?

Ann Krohn Rick

Longmont
How democracies collapse
Jon Caldara’s opinion column complains about what he sees as class warfare. The quote about democracy always failing because of greed of the citizens was attributed to Alexander Tytler by Elmer Peterson in an op-ed in the 1951 Daily Oklahoman. However, there is no evidence this was said by Tytler who died over two hundred years ago. Nor is there evidence that modern democracies collapse this way.
Democracies have been taken over by other nations. They have also failed by military coup, or by elected leaders eroding the norms and laws of democracy. The later was employed by Hitler and more recently by the conservative Pinochet in Chile and the liberal Chaves in Venezuela.
But is income distribution the appropriate realm of government? Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”.
While Jefferson was in broad agreement with the political philosopher John Locke, he did substitute “pursuit of happiness” for Locke’s “property” in this list of rights. This is a broader but less defined right. Some might view this to include shelter, food, education and health. Others might not. In a democracy such differences are to be settled by vote of citizens or their representatives.
Perhaps we should recall Winston Churchill words: “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those that have been tried from time to time.”
Robert Jones
Colorado Springs