Founding Fathers had flaws, but look what they left us

I am certainly no historian, nor do I have the distinction of having served my country in uniform. I have never been asked why I stand for the flag, but if ever questioned, I might answer something like this:

Lexington Green, Bunker Hill, Trenton, Washington, Jefferson, Nathan Hale, Henry, Revere, Salem Poor, Yorktown, Betsy Ross, F. S. Key, Lincoln, Shiloh, Antietam, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Grant, Appomattox, Arizona, Overlord, Normandy, Eisenhower, Point du Hoc, 101st Airborne, 82nd Airborne, Ardennes, Tuskegee Airman, Tarawa, Midway, Wade McClusky, Mount Suribachi, Navajo code talkers, Okinawa, Chosin, Hamburger Hill, Khe Sanh, Desert Storm, 911, Arlington, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

That is too many bodies and too much blood on too many beaches and battlefields for this American to not have reverence for these heroic men and women.

No cameras, no lights, no headlines, no interviews, no recognition, no pre-game cameos, and no endorsements. They quietly served and sacrificed … for me … my kids … my grandkids … and a grateful nation.

Perhaps Israel’s former prime minister, Shimon Peres, summed it up best: “America is unique in the history of the world … whenever there has been war, the nation that is victorious has taken land from the nation that has been defeated. Only one nation in history … was willing to lay down hundreds of thousands of lives and take no land in its victory … America is unique …”

And yet in our day it has become fashionable among “enlightened” circles to criticize our Founding Fathers.

“But there is just one problem with judging them by today’s standards,” wrote federal judge Ted Stewart, “and it is this: but for those imperfect founders and the sacrifices that they made and the instruments of government which they created, there would be no current, enlightened standards of equality and justice by which to judge them.”

May we never forget! May we forever be grateful!

David Richards

Baker City

Animal statues are OK, but what about elk, deer, cattle?

What happened to Baker City? I thought it was a cowboy, country, western town. All the jungle animals around are OK and are beautiful at work, but don’t belong in Baker. Baker is known for the miners, cowboys, horses, elk, deer, cattle, sheep, trout, catfish, bluegill, timber. Not alligators, elephants, crocodiles, camels and etc.

Cheryl Reedy

Baker City