Today I want to remember Dennis Koehler who was elected to the county commission in 1976 and served eight years before making a run at the U.S. Congress. A former military intelligence officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, Mr. Koehler fought for veterans' rights in South Florida and started the local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter. On many occasions, he was our grand marshal of the Veterans Day parade in Lake Worth, speaking at the bandshell at Bryant Park. He fought his last fight in April 2011 battling cancer.
Blog anonymous comment of the Day: "Are you crazy? Retha Lowe has a husband, and 3 sons who served in the Armed Forces. Stop rewriting history."
Normally I don't give much credence to some anonymous comments here and especially those who take pot shots or personal attacks at this author. But selective memory is as bad as the worst corrupt politician. If you did not attend that meeting when the Veteran's parade was sunsetted, then you have no business calling anyone crazy or telling them that they are liars.
It's nice to have special loyalty to your friends. Because Mrs. Lowe was a long time commissioner and the instigator of the elimination of the Veteran's Day parade back in 2007, does not infer any other meaning to it--it does not diminish the fact, if true, that she has three sons who served in the military. Many mothers have sons and daughters who have served and we thank hers along with the millions who served and to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
We used to partner with the Chamber of Commerce (still do) on events, an organization that was highly interested in making money. Back then Tom Ramiccio was president of the Chamber. The Veterans Day parade did not generate any special revenue--there were no booths set up at Bryant Park or festival fees to be made from Vets events. Nothing but hard costs were attached to the Veterans parade, costs that could not be reduced because the majority were overtime costs and therein lies the rub.
The commission's desire was to sunset the Veterans parade by the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2007 and add the Hispanic Fest, an event that generated revenue. That is exactly what they did. It was sacrificing a special day for Veteran's, recognized as a national holiday, in order to make money on a different event to override the costs...pure and simple.
Today IS Veteran's Day, a day that is a national holiday for all those who have kept this country free and the greatest, still, on the face of the Earth. It's a good thing that those in the armed forces don't serve for the paycheck. They serve for duty, honor and country. And we finally restored their honor with a Veterans Day parade and celebration that they so deserve.
I think our world would be a better place if we would put nationalism aside and think of ourselves as all earthlings instead of people from separate countries. We are really just one world, all one people, under one same God, we need to stop all these divisions. I like what Einstein says about this. Man causes most of the ills of this world with such a closed small minded way of thinking, we need to look bigger and our entire world, we need to love all of us and realize we are all ONE.
ReplyDelete"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."
-- Albert Einstein
Well, if you are a communist, you would believe that. Your right, of course, and that is why our American soldiers fought for you. Just think, we all could be speaking German right now if our government had not finally stood up against evil.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a celebration it was on Saturday! The day was just perfect in a number of especially meaningful ways. It was so right and reassuring to see the entire City Commission willingly participating in the events. No one’s back was turned; no one refused to place their hand over their heart and no one refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the National anthem. When our previous Mayor Jeff Clemens, now Senator Clemens, bravely and honestly spoke of how his vote to eliminate the Veteran’s Parade ‘has always bothered him’ he helped to heal this wound. And Mayor Pam Triola’s gracious words of comfort to Senator Clemens reflected her recognition of the gravity placed on leaders for rightful decisions.
ReplyDeleteI was at that meeting and Commissioner Lowe’s perhaps well intentioned yet ill serving desire for incoming dollars and impatience ‘to move things along’ did not create an atmosphere for compromise or the ability to ‘find a way to keep the parade’. It was a painful meeting to witness.
Sometimes our City Commissions forget they sit in that chair to represent the citizens and mistakenly become less mindful of the long-term impact their decisions have on the fabric of a community.
Much can be avoided and much can be learned from Commissioner Lowe’s time in office.
Dear 2:53 who mentioned Nationalism? Why would the expectation of appropriate decisions from leaders and loving ones county constitute Nationalism? Of course, we are all One on this earth and this planet is one with the rest of the universe! Just because there may be different countries doesn’t mean we are separate or engender Nationalism. Isn’t this the same as having separate cells to make up ‘one body’ that has different parts like two feet, two arms with hands and one head? And going further, isn’t it necessary to respect the different functions of each part of the whole? MAY I SAY, BY HOLDING THE CONCEPT AND THE VERY USE OF THE WORD 'NATIONALISM', YOU PRECLUDE THE VERY ONENESS YOU ARE SPEAKING ABOUT!
ReplyDeleteThis should have never happened in the first place. Veterans Parade should have NEVER been sunsetted. Those soldiers didn't think, hey I can stay in college get a degree and a safe career with minimal threat to my life and make more than the meager pay a soldier get to go out and if they survive, endure hardships that those of us who haven't can only imagine. No movie can prepare you for the real thing. It was a very embarrassing time to have lived in this city but thank God the voice of many residents just got too loud and persistent to ignore and thank God for Mayor Pam Triolo adding her yes vote to keeping her campaign promise of doing everything within her power to bring back the best parade of the year! Happy Veterans Day!
ReplyDeletePatriotically,
Mark A. Parrilla
But it is back, so that is good.
ReplyDeleteAnd I attended and did not say the Pledge of Allegiance, I have not said the Pledge since 2nd grade. Those of us, and there are many and we are a growing group, who do not believe in god can still honor our country and our vets without kow towing to a particular religion.
When our REPRESENTATIVES forget that they are REPRESENTATIVES, things really get mucked up.
ReplyDelete@7:42, yeah, I guess this entire thing was just the big bang theory, right?
ReplyDelete