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To The Editor and Franklin County
Thank you to The Brookville Democrat for getting your publication to my husband in Afghanistan. He is looking forward to reading an article about the “Big drug bust.” He seems to be getting his mail within a week and he celebrates his 39th birthday this week so the timing for him to start receiving our hometown paper was perfect! He was very glad to get it. Our family sincerely appreciates the support for him and what he does.
We had a very tumultuous couple of years and finally things have calmed to the din that you probably experience in your own families there, with four children and their various activities, summer camp programs, and personal interests. I’m blessed by the support we have at home and the military programs the military provides to support our families during deployment. I’m also very grateful that all the experiences we’ve had in the past couple of years allows me to better serve the needs of other wives who’s husbands are deployed for the first or second time. When Marines are deployed and we opt to stay near the base the challenges and accomplishments are different than they would be for dependents that return home.
This is an election year and I’m pleased to report to Franklin County that despite Defense Department budget cuts the services provided on the base seem to be improving and streamlining. If you have a family member who has to utilize services through the base or post they are stationed at and they have problems, I can positively assert that I have not seen these support services suffer. The only problem with the budget cuts are that high risk military occupations that commonly offer bonuses and incentives ( Explosive Ordinance Disposal, Combat Engineers, and even Intelligence) aren\\\'t getting them anymore or they aren’t enough to offset the additional risk that thier occupations demand. I also see the force reduction being a problem in the next two years from our enemies. I’m not going to address dollar amounts because for the most part I think defense spending is mostly a political football.
I do have some concern though about some things I see at Camp Lejeune, NC. I’d like to know who paid for the solar panels we see on the new housing and in various areas of the base. I wonder if this is where the money from the Solyndra went to. I agree with a Wall Street Journal writer (Wall Street Journal:July 18, 2012) who says “If Republicans are remotely serious about cutting the federal budget, one litmus test should be eliminating the $34 billion loan program that produced Solyndrathe solar company that went bankrupt after receiving $500 million of taxpayer subsidies.” Were the expensive solar panels purchased through the Department of Energy or was that Defense spending that bought them? Either way, we pay that bill. Those were expensive and when so many are out of work I think that expenditure was unnecessary and unwise. Politicians should be looking to eliminate waste on either side of the aisle right now and the Department of Energy is a ridiculous cash burden on our country.
I am still very proud of the men and women in uniform here in the United States. We live under one of the flight lines and it’s very normal for our family to observe the “Sounds of freedom” provided by the air wing of the Marines serving here in North Carolina. You can be assured that Marines and sailors HERE are proud of what they represent, the job that they do, and the country that they are serving. They love their “home” towns as much as we do!
I hope God blesses you with better weather. I understand it’s a little dry there. We are praying for our dear family, friends, and neighbors who are struggling right now.
I hope 2013 sees a turn in the direction of our country that causes Franklin County to prosper and grow and retain the “Blessings of Liberty.”
Warm Regards and God Bless!
Leah Turner
