Stop to thank a Vietnam vet today

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the Siege of Khe Sanh in South Vietnam and the Tet 1968 Offensive. Unlike the 40th anniversary of D-Day at Omaha and Utah beaches, where the speeches of the presidents of the United States and France were noted around the world, I fear this date will pass in history without the same fanfare.

The 77-day siege and the other major Tet '68 battles for the cities of South Vietnam were victories for the U.S. military at a heavy cost of life and many thousands wounded. Some of these wounded are today still carrying the scars and memories of these battles.

The Siege of Khe Sanh was fought by the Marines with support from the Navy Corpsmen (Field Medics) and Seabees, plus the airlift and B-52 Arc Light bombing missions of the U.S. Air Force. There was also close air support by the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

It was not a pleasant experience to be on the receiving end of day after day heavy incoming rounds. Everyone's primary thought was hoping one of the rounds didn't have your name on it. Incoming rounds were serious business, but to have a sniper round come close would make you very uneasy for a quite a while.

The North Vietnamese military commander Gen. Vo Nguyen Gaip recently stated in his book that his army of soldiers was significantly defeated by the pressures brought to bear by the U.S. military. He was just about to sue for peace when he saw hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in the streets in cities across the United States.

He also knew that Uncle Walter "C" on the CBS Nightly News told the home front we had lost the war. Gaip then knew that he still could win as long as the United States was a divided country. Gaip just waited for things to go his way.

When the Marines, soldiers, airmen and sailors came home in 1966-1973, there were no welcome home speeches or parades. Today if you see a Vietnam veteran, take the time to tell him "thanks for your service to your country," even if it is 40 years late.

Vacation renters can be perfect neighbors

With most neighbors irking us in one way or another, vacation renters might just be the perfect neighbors. Consider:

» They are gone before I have a reason to dislike them.
» They spend most of their time on the beach or driving around the island.
» They don't have dogs that bite, bark all night or crap on my lawn.
» Without cats, the koi in my pond enjoy greater longevity.
» They don't work on cars or run some other home business.
» Cars are new and never parked on the lawn.
» They don't have birthday, graduation, wedding, family reunion or other mass gatherings.
» They don't have teenagers aspiring to be rock stars practicing drum and guitar solos.
» They don't use or deal drugs, break into neighbors' homes or prompt police visits for all sorts of other civil and criminal misbehavior.
» They don't let the weeds grow wild or turn yards into garbage dumps.
» They don't wake me up on weekends to borrow tools.
» They don't have guns.
» And most importantly, they don't spread rumors about my family ... true as they might be.

And some folks have a problem with neighbors like that?

In Hawaii, we build it, but we don't fix it

Dear Coach Jones: We are sad to see you go. We know you were not happy that your requests for improved facilities and maintenance were rejected. However, we could have told you from the beginning, we don't do facilities and maintenance. We don't maintain our roads. We don't maintain our sewers. We don't maintain the restrooms at our parks. We don't maintain our streams and storm drains. We just don't do maintenance. Sorry, Coach.

Some lawmakers pay their own way

In the Jan. 16 Kokua Line column, June Watanabe was asked if the taxpayers pay for the legislative opening food and drink and she asked Senate Democrat PR director Richard Rapoza for the answer. He discussed the $7,500 annual office allowance per senator and said "most use that to pay for the opening day expenses."

Please be advised that I have been in the Senate for 12 years now, and have always paid for opening day refreshments -- and all other such events during the year -- out of my own pocket. I think more Republicans in the House and Senate are more likely to do the same.

Further, I have never used $1 of my office "allowance" for anything -- it was $5,000 per year (in addition to our $35,000 salaries) until two years ago when it was increased to $7,500 annually -- because it is taxpayers' money. Likewise, as a good small business owner, I always pay my own way for anything not directly related to the operation of the Legislature.

It's time to fix what ails university

Thank you for your Jan. 13 editorial that provided the history of the University of Hawaii maintenance budget. Hopefully, the politicians will not assume that all of the electorate can't remember or think. I remember all of those incidents that you mentioned, and found it difficult to accept legislators who acted surprised at what they saw. After the initial "promises" to fix the problems, legislators are now quickly bringing up the lack of funds and their hesitancy in any tax increase.

Let's take a more analytical look at the problem. Lack of maintenance will only exacerbate the problem. In time, many facilities will be beyond repair. Then, it will no longer be a matter of repairing, but tearing down and rebuilding. So, compare the cost of those two courses of action and doing without the facilities.

It would also be prudent to consider how much longer before UH will no longer have athletic programs or continue to function as a leading university. There is no reason to challenge Coach Dave Shoji's perception that he has never visited any university with worse athletic facilities than UH, and, if the rest of UH's facilities are just as bad, where does that leave us?

Now, all these politicians ran for office claiming their problem-solving abilities and leadership. Show us.

Harbor fixes for ferry would be a waste

The former director of the Hawaii state Department of Transportation, E. Alvey Wright, wrote a letter Jan. 14 that only a bureaucrat could.

Wright's irresponsible call for millions of tax dollars to be spent building and maintaining ferry terminals in three counties reflects the thinking of someone who understands government power but not market economics. Even at heavily discounted rates, the ferry is sailing below break-even capacity. It will not be long before the ferry goes bust, leaving us stuck with $40 million worth of barges.

Wright's proposal would throw good money after bad. We should be thinking about an alternative use for the barges. Perhaps one could be a place of retirement for Linda Lingle.