Traverse City Record-Eagle

Opinion

November 25, 2012

Letters to the Editor: 11/25/2012

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Executing my right

I, too, received a voting record of myself and neighbors. However, it is not accurate as it said I have voted in the past few elections when in fact, I have not. When they give us someone who is worth voting for, then I will vote. I don't feel I'm abandoning my rights; contrarily, I am executing my right. The right to choose someone who is worth having as the leader of our country. Maybe if everyone else didn't vote for a new president, they would figure it out and put someone up for election who will get the job done and not at the expense of the people who put him or her there.

Until then, I will show up to vote only for the proposals that I believe in.

Barbara Romine

Rapid City

We owe it to each other

Suicide prevention outreach programs (called "Stand by Them") to help veterans' support networks recognize the signs of a veteran in crisis have been started up by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

There has been a rise in the number of veterans and service members taking their own lives. The trend in veteran suicides has grown increasingly alarming and exceeds such things as motor vehicle accidents and combat-related injuries.

More than 65,000 veterans have taken their lives since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is important that a special focus on the issue of veteran and service member suicide be brought to the attention of friends and family members of veterans at risk. A Veterans Crisis Line is open to all veterans and their supporters, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year by phone toll-free at (800) 273-8255 or online at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net.

For all we have been through together we owe it to each other to spread the word and continue to encourage the use of life-saving programs such as "Stand by Them."

Paul Van Valkenburgh

Buckley

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