Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 27, 2001 Page: 2 of 16
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Page 2 - CHEROKEEAN/HERALD of Rusk, Texas - Thursday, September 27, 2001
Emmett H. Whitehead
/Y| 1 /TT 1 ¥
publisher
Lt|crokccdi)/Hcrolci
Marie Whitehead
V V
editor
Texas' oldest continuously
September 27, 2001
published weekly newspaper.
Established as the Cherokee
Sentinel Feb. 27, 1850
Jim Hogg
Historical Park,
Rusk
Caddoan Mounds
State Historical Site,
Alto
Texas State Railroad
State
Historical Park, Rusk
STILL STANDING
Guest Commentary
A Strong National Guard Can Protect U.S.
from Future Attacks
High Points from El Camino Real
Edmund
Bojarski
Dear President Bush,
The United States is currently not prepared
for terrorist attacks on the homeland. Last
week's New York and Washington attacks point
to the urgent need for this country to buy
an enormous amount of security service for
a (comparatively) very small
amount of money.
There's a great deal of energy
experience, talent, training and
willingness to fight terrorism
lying fallow out there in the
hearts of the American public.
All that's needed is a tiny bit of
money and a lot of imagination
and willpower to bring it into
play against Osama bin Laden
and his ilk.
Wa shington has a $343 billion
defense budget to deter international enemies,
mostly poor third world countries which can
hardly feed their own populat ions. when the
more immediate danger hes right here at home,
as evidenced by the Sept. 11 raids. It seems
obvious that America is in far more danger
from domestic and foreign terrorist attacks
than from space warfare and it seems practical
to devote at least a minute proportion of that
newly passed $40 billion anti-terrorist defense
budget to prep are against the far more probable
attacks from within.
The time has come to organize a part-time
unpaid volunteer qua si-military state guard
forcé hke the one now backing up the National
Guard in 26 of our states. A federally funded
nationwide state-controlled local guard service
is needed to make use of the extensive: and
expensive training given military personnel
and completely wasted after they leave the
federal service. The country could very well use
that mature prepaid experience and training
to assist local authorities in casé of terrorist
attacks, floods, forest fires, riots, etc. and
increase exponentially the effectiveness of
the active federal military services by freeing
them from many of the mundane daily military
tasks using these experienced, qualified and
willing volunteers, thereby also putting to
anti-terrorist use the cast off military uniforms
and equipment now sold for pennies to salvage
dealers.
The recent report by the Committee on
National Security/21st Century must serve as
a wake up call to the nation! It stated that a
"catastrophic attack' was hkely to be made
against American territory within the next
quarter century and that the National Guard
should be retrained as this country's main
defense against such an assault.
The United States, at this time is woefully
unpreparedfor such an attack and very danger-*
ously vulnerable because of our democratic
system of freedom of movement and privacy.
The fact that we will be able to do very
little about it is underlined by such "minor"
incidents as the bombings of a federal building
in Oklahoma, the World Trade Center in New
York and the billion dollar battleship "Cole" in
the port of Aden in Yemen.
The suggestion made by the Commission
on National Security/21st Century to redirect
and retrain the National Guard as a first
line of defense against this kind of atrocity is
an excellent one and should be implemented
by President George W. Bush and Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on a red alert
priority basis.
During my 15: years as a TSG officer I have
felt like a voice crying in the wilderness about
the tremendous potential of a state guard
system for the entire country to increase the
size and effectiveness of our military forces.
The U.S. Army has been unable to fulfill its
quota of recruits for a variety of reasons, while
there are literally hundreds of thousands of
willing and able recruits available to a service
which does not demand leaving career and
family for long periods. There are untold
thousands of military veterans who do not
wish to serve full time, but would be glad to
Serve in a part-time capacity without having to
leave their hometowns, and yet only 26 states
have state guard units. Why? Because the
TSG and other state guard organizations are
not paid, have to pay for meals and travel
and even have to buy their own uniforms.
If the military could find the money to pay
state guard men and women a few days' pay
per month plus some minor benefits such as
post exchange privileges and hand me down
uniforms from the U.S. Army and National
Guard surplus, the Pentagon would be turning
away volunteers because of an oversupply.
As seen by this former Executive Officer and
Battalion Commander of the TSG, here is, in
no particular order, a partial hst of reasons the
threat and/or effectiveness of terrorism on U.S.
sod could be at least ameliorated by a national
system of state guard units.
• The TSG uses existing National Guard armories for evening
and/or weekend drills when the armories are not in use. It
drills either one eight-hour day a month, or two four-hour
evenings per month, but this could be doubled or tripled as
called for. On occasion the individual TSG units offer special
training weekend field exercises and there are some entire
TSG gatherings in the major cities but excused absences
are very common.
• It uses whatever surplus U.S. Army and National Guard
uniforms and equipment become available. The insignia
used will differentiate the TSG from the active full-time
military and reserves.
• The TSG is composed primarily of military veterans upon
whose training and experience the U.S. government has spent
millions of dollars in aggregate, and that money has not been
wasted when it is put to use in the TSG. Non-veterans are
encouraged to enlist and are trained by veterans.
• The TSG is open to men and women ages 16 to 60 with
or without previous military experience.
• The TSG serves local authorities in times of crisis by
helping with traffic and crowd control. Local TSG units are
called upon for help whenever additional manpower is required
by city, county or state officials. The TSG may not serve outside
the state unless agreed to by the governor.
• The TSG is primarily military police trained, but could be
put to many others uses when called upon. The Women's
Army Corps (WAC) was of great service during World War II, as
was the Home Army in Britain during the bombings. The TSG
could and should be used in the same way.
• The TSG is of service not only in times of major emergency,
but also in quiet times through community service of all kinds.
Its primary duties are those of the military police with most
calls coming for traffic and crowd control.
•The TSG serves as a trial of military life for young people who
are considering joining the federal forces. Recruits are allowed
to resign if they find military life is not to their liking.
• The TSG is able to find useful service for people who could
not qualify for the regular federal military service because
of various handicaps.
• The TSG is the backup for the National Guard, securing the
armories and performing the duties of the National Guard when
the those units are called to active federal service.
• The TSG is not regularly issued weapons of any kind but
may have batons and shotguns when necessary.
• There's a great deal of energy, experience, talent, training
and willingness to fight terrorism lying fallow out there in the
hearts of the American public. All we need is a tiny bit of
money and a lot of imagination and willpower to bring it into
play against Osama bin Laden and his ilk.
The recent congressional subcommittee
hearings on terrorism and the continuing list
of studies and dire reports of this country's
unpreparedness for biological and chemical
terrorist attacks have made it even more clear
that a nationwide state guard system could and
should play a vital role in the prevention and/or
amelioration of terrorist attacks of all types.
The time to act is immediately upon us. As an
example. Secr etary of Transportation Minnetta
admitted to the subcommittee investigating
defenses against terrorism that only one
percent of the 16 million tons of materials
shipped into the United States by sea in road-
ready containers is inspected by U.S. Customs.
The possibilities for a large scale repeat of the
Oklahoma City tragedy are staggering! Why
should rogue nations bother spending fortunes
on armies and high-tech equipment when a
ton of anthrax or botuhn, which costs almost
nothing to produce, spread in a couple dozen
shipping containers and released simultane-
ously in American population centers could
do a better and faster job at httle cost? Think
what Timothy McVeigh was able to wreak
with fertilizer! And remember that only about
five percent of the illegal drug traffic into the
U.S. is intercepted! Plus the danger of the
porosity of our Canadian and Mexican borders.
Consider the carnage of a few containers of
serin, the deadliest gas in the world, used in
the Japanese terrorist subway attack, released
in our subways or other cramped enclosed
areas! Or, perish the thought, nuclear weapons
smuggled into the country in those road-ready
containers!
There is a tremendous amount of useful
work which could be performed by members
of a nationwide state guard system with a
Please see COMMENTARY, page 3
Scene In Passing
...will
return
next
week
The American flags have
been raised to full mast
along El Camino Real,
but spirits aren't hfted as
easily as flags, Most folks
are si ill carrying a sick feel-
ing inside over the events of
Sept. 11, but we are struggling
to hft our spirits and carry
on. Good things are hap-
pen i ng in our community and
with all of the bad news a
quarter's worth of good news
is certainly a bargain.
Due to the recent tragedy that struck our
nation, the theme of the Alto Homecoming
Festival on Oct. 20 has been changed to "Alto
Salutes America" in order to allow the people
of our community to show their patriotism.
Please join in to make this year's parade and
festival a huge success.
Friday morning as I made my dady visit to
the Alto Post Office, I was met by a busload of
kids unloading from a school bus with a letter
clutched tightly in the hand of each chdd. All
the students of Alto Elementary had written
letters to President Bush. These letters were
written about the recent events in our country
and gave the children a chance to voice their
concerns and support. It made me feel good
inside to see our children mailing those let-
ters. After all, protecting them and seeing
that they grow up with the same opportuni-
ties we have is one of the things patriotism
is all about.
The Central High Home Demonstration
-
Chris Davis
elcaminoreal@inu.net
Club is celebrating a mde-
stone in our community. The
club wdl be celebrating their
70th anniversary Oct, 4
during Rally Day. Rally Day
was chosen so the other clubs
in the county could join in
the celebration. The club has
been meeting on the third
Wednesday of each month
since it began all those years
ago. The Central High
Home Demonstration Club
was founded in 1931 and has
been of service to our community for 70 years.
The meeting will start at 10 a.m. in the old
Central High School budding and a covered
dish lunch will follow. Anyone interested is
invited to attend and help them celebrate, so
get your favorite dish cooked up and come on
out. I don't know what it is about that old
school and those ladies but I do love to go out
there. If you're looking for me on Oct. 4th
about lunch time, I'll have my feet under the
table at Central High.
Vertis Grogan celebrated her 86th birthday
Sept. 15, Children, grandchildren and other
family members joined her at her house south
of Alto, to eat cake and banana pudding in
honor of her birthday. Happy birthday, Vertis
Grogan!
Jeremy, Kelly and Elizabeth West welcomed
a new baby boy into their family on Sept .
13. Harmon Alexander West came into the
Please see EL CAMINO REAL, page 6
Guest Commentary
We Let Our Guard Down ... Now,
What Do We Do Next?
Sandy
Gonzalez
There are no words that can
describe how I feel, how I will
feel, or even how I ought to
feel. A tragedy
of this mag-
nitude affects
every person
in our coun-
try.
I watched
the news in
horror as
newscasts
replayed foot'
age of a plane
crashing into
the World Trade Center. The
World Trade Center. The
same World Trade Center
bombed by terrorists back in
1993. Perhaps they bombed
it again to show nothing is
safe. Perhaps they bombed it
to inflict the most damage and
drive a dagger into the hearts
of Americans. But one thing
is sure, Americans have been
awakened once again from
their slumber of indifference
and distance from world events
where people are suffering and
dying just as the Japanese
"awoke a sleeping giant" in
Pearl Harbor.
Women and men alike crying
on the street, covered in soot
and debris ... footage of people
jumping from the top floors of
the building hoping it would
be a better death than burning
... a panoramic camera view
of total devastation. It makes
me wonder how far we've come
in the past 400 years. We have
computers, bombs, medicine,
but at what cost? No one could
ever have committed such a
crime 400 years ago. Perhaps
we're digressing in terms of
evolution and we'll slowly kdl
ourselves. The only animal to
bring about it's own demise is
man. What a terrible way to
leave our mark in history.
We can no longer sit back
and say it can never happen
here ... our security is too
strict, our piersonnel is too
thorough, we're the United
States of America. No longer,
and never again.
For Americans my age, we've
never known world conflict.
We've seen tragediesinKosovo,
but only in far off places
in countries not as sophisti-
cated, not as intellectual, not
as technologically advanced.
Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet,
"This above all to thine own self
be true,"
After the events that trans-
pired, it has made me wonder
what we possibly could have
done to anger someone so
much. Children in the Gaza
Strip were cheering at the loss
ofhves. More than 5,000 hves
lost and parents told their
children to cheer? What kind
of a person could rejoice at the
deaths of thousands? These
groups harbor an immense
anger against America and
somehow they blame all of
their problems on America.
What could we have done?
We pride ourselves in being
the land of the, free and the
home of the brave but these
people must have a vahdreason
for hating us so much. We
are not the stellar power that
leads the way in morality and
integrity, because obviously
along the way, we stepped on
some people,
It's happened. The most
Marie Whitehead
editor@mediactr.com
C IV K
Cljerokeeaij/Herald
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devastating terrorist attack
the world has ever known
occurredonAmerican sod. The
unimaginable happened and
we're shocked, But should
we really be shocked? Wasn't
it inevitable? Our defense
steadily declined since Rea-
gan's presidency and we
observed an increasingly
haughty attitude of "Well, it
could never happen here."
Now we're kicking ourselves
for our lackadaisical attitudes,
but what are the next steps
now? Americans want retribu-
tion and vengeance andfrankly,
they don't really care who
pays, just as long as someone
does. What if we find the
perpetrators who committed
this horrendous act? What
will we do to them? Most
assuredly we'll sentence them
to the death penalty. Let's
rejoice in the death of another.
Yeah, there's our retribution
and vengeance.
But wait, where's the relief
after these terrorists are killed?
We don'tfeel any better because
something very peculiar has
happened. This current group
of terrorists has been weak-
ened, perhaps destroyed, but
what of the others who will
take their place? What of the
people who possess even more
anger towards America for the
death of those terrorists? It's
a never-ending circle, and it
makes me lose faith in human-
ity. What do we do when we cut
off the head of a serpent, but
the serpent grows a new one in
its place? Such is terrorism.
Sandy Gonzalez is a fresh-
man at MIT in Cambridge.
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 152, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 27, 2001, newspaper, September 27, 2001; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152484/m1/2/: accessed May 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.