Editorials
Friday, May 24, 1996
A day to remember
America's war dead
MEMORIAL Day used to be called Decoration Day because people placed flowers and flags on the graves of Americans who had died in the nation's wars. We still do. It began as a day to honor the dead of the Civil War but has since been extended to include those of all America's wars.
Several communities claim to have originated Memorial Day. In 1966, however, the federal government proclaimed Waterloo, N.Y., as its birthplace. It was first observed there on May 5, 1866. In 1868 Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, selected May 30 as a special day for honoring soldiers' graves. In 1971 a federal law designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day.
Nearly 1.2 million war dead, going back to the American Revolution, are honored today. Many of them are buried here, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Punchbowl. All Americans owe them a debt of gratitude.
The last major conflict for the United States is now more than 20 years in the past, but smaller disputes - the Gulf War, Somalia - continue to take a toll. Today about 20,000 service personnel are on duty as peacekeepers in Bosnia.
Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the principal threat to world peace in the second half of the 20th century, the world is still a dangerous place. The United States must keep its armed forces strong and prepared to meet any challenge.
Changing the holiday to the last Monday in May provided a three-day weekend at the onset of summer. Most people spent the holiday weekend enjoying themselves. You can do that and still remember the sacrifices of America's war dead.
Other editorials in brief:
Election in Russia
BORIS Yeltsin appears to have learned the ways of Western politics. Regarded months ago as unlikely to beat back a resurgent Communist Party - his approval rating was a dismal 5 percent - the Russian incumbent has pushed ahead in the polls before the June 16 presidential election. Further efforts are needed for democrats to coalesce around Yeltsin to assure him another term.
Gennadi Zyuganov, the Communist candidate, has been vague about how his government would deal with such issues as privatization and re-creation of the Soviet empire. Zyuganov seemed successful for a time in appealing to nostalgia for the old order in the midst of the difficulties of the transition to a market economy.
Zyuganov now is urging party members to tone down their remarks about nationalizing private property, but his economic plan remains vague. A return to power in Russia by the Communists would be a world nightmare. It will be avoided only if Yeltsin can persuade the voters that it would lead to domestic catastrophe as well.
Variance in sentences
THE offenses were different and so were the judges. Still, it's difficult to reconcile the sentences received by Lawrence Norton and Carl Richie. Norton, a former schoolteacher convicted of third degree sexual assault on an 11-year-old girl, was sentenced in Honolulu by Judge Sandra Simms to one year in jail and five years' probation.
Richie, convicted of promoting prostitution and racketeering on Kauai, received 10 years in prison from Judge George Masuoka. Richie and the women who worked with Richie were not accused of soliciting sexual intercourse but were cited under a provision prohibiting sexual contact for money.
If we didn't know it was true, it would be hard to believe that the same system produced such widely differing sentences. Something is wrong here.
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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor