Bill can count on Seabee
I served two tours of duty in Vietnam with the Navy Seabees. My family history of military service dates back to the Civil War. In 2002, I retired from the Army Reserves after 22 years, for a total of 28 years. I know something about leadership. A leader is someone who is willing to step up and say, “I can do that.” I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said: “Most people would rather be ‘led’ than be ‘leaders.’ ” How true that really is.
Bill DeWeese is a leader because about 30 years ago he stepped up and said, “I can do that.” The voters of the 50th District put DeWeese in office, and our vote is all that mattes. It was DeWeese’s peers in the legislature who voted him as their Democratic Leader. DeWeese started at the bottom of the legislative ladder, but now he is at the top. We, the voters of the 50th District – you know, the ones who actually get out of bed and go to the polls to vote during a spring rain or November chill – want DeWeese to stay at the top.
A few weeks ago DeWeese came to my home to ask for my vote. We sat on my porch and discussed some relevant issues. I told Bill what an old high school teacher said to our class: “Show me a man or woman who doesn’t make a mistake and I’ll show you a man or woman who doesn’t do anything.”
I’ve never met, nor do I know, DeWeese’s opponent. He hasn’t knocked on my door to ask for my vote or to discuss relevant, local issues. When I returned from Vietnam in 1966, I signed up to be a registered Democrat; that was 40 years ago and I am still voting to this day.
Mr. Sunyak, I don’t know you, but your commentary about DeWeese and veterans was way out of line, if not an outright insult to all who read the Herald-Standard. Mr. Sunyak, I don’t know or care if you were ever in the service, but I can tell you that every day I leave my house I wear my “Seabee” hat or my “Army” hat. A lot of veterans, young and old, wear the hats and shirts of the branch of their service. It is simply about pride.
I predict DeWeese will win the Nov. 7 election. When my choice for representative, Bill DeWeese, is being sworn into office in January, I will, on that day, remove my “yellow” Herald-Standard newspaper box and put it where it belongs, in the trash can.
All you have to worry about, Mr. Sunyak, is how many veterans in the 50th District will do the same.
Julius Quinn
Brownsville