Letters to the Editor
Sept. 11 front page was a work of art
The Advertiser's Sept. 11 front page was incredible. The use of the victims' names with the World Trade Center in relief was both a tasteful and respectful tribute.
On one page, using no wasted words, it captured the enormousness of our loss while honoring all the victims as equals.
In this era of sensationalized, "gotcha" journalism, this ranks in my opinion as a work of art. Mahalo for such a thoughtful gesture.
Perhaps The Advertiser could offer this as a commemorative poster, with proceeds benefiting the victims' families. That would be a great way to memorialize the victims. I'd love to have a clean copy (unfortunately, my newspaper is smudged).
Mike Morley
America is kinder, stronger after attack
People who want to destroy America will do anything they can to bring it down. They will throw bombs, hijack planes and do other cruel things.
The mean people think they are tearing us apart, but they are wrong. They are bringing us closer together. We, all of the American people, are becoming stronger. Americans are praying more, calling family members in another state more, being nicer to other people.
America has taken care of us; now it is time to take care of America. American people, listen: We are growing more as a family; we need to keep it that way. Be nice, not mean. It is never too late to change.
Elizabeth Chang
Highlands Intermediate School, Grade 7
Firefighters continue to be our daily heroes
On this one-year anniversary of a most heroic event, I wanted to say I will live the rest of my life honoring the heroes of our modern times.
The emergency response teams are still out there daily, risking their lives for the people of their communities. My husband and his crew are daily heroes who continue to give all they possess. The men and women of the Honolulu Fire Department will never stop giving to help those in need of their help.
I was fortunate to have met a widow of a New York fire inspector who ran to the scene of the World Trade Center to be with his brothers. Humbly, I cannot completely share in her loss, but I can say that I have felt the pain, I have felt the heart-aching sense of fright, because my husband and his men will give their lives to save you.
Let us never forget those firefighters who have lost their lives, and let us never forget the ones who continue to save our lives daily. These heroes do their jobs because they love what they do, at a cost you cannot imagine. Just ask the wife and children who lost the man they call their hero. I did.
Chamaigne Ralston
Four O'ahu children made their marks
I am proud of our Waipi'o Little Leaguers, but what about the four children from O'ahu, Peterpaul Abiva, Racquel Esqueda, Ka'imionalani Manner and Kim Tran?
They were chosen as part of the search for 2,000 children from around the world to represent us at The Millennium Dreamers Global Children's Summit at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida back in May 2000 for their outstanding contribution to their communities.
I'm sure we'd all be just as proud of these four special children.
Leilani Rasa
Pearl City
Walter Van Horn, you are kind, helpful
As I was traveling west on the H-1 Freeway on Aug. 14, I had a flat tire between the busy hours of 3:30 to 4 p.m., so I got into the left shoulder lane to get out of the line of traffic. I called the Police Department for help. A police officer came to the scene. Meanwhile, a stranger stopped his car behind me to help as the police officer stood by.
This extremely nice gentleman helped to replace my flat tire. I was able to get his name — Walter Van Horn — but not his address. He was on his way home after work, yet he took the time to help me.
I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Walter Van Horn for this fine gesture of kindness and concern. I am truly grateful to him.
Mrs. June J. Takano
Open captions for movies appreciated
The Pearl City High School deaf and hard-of-hearing students were excited when we heard there would be open captions on the movie "Lilo & Stitch" at Signature's Pearl Highlands 12-Plex Theatres.
Open captions are words on the movie screen so that the deaf and hard of hearing can see what the characters are saying. We really enjoyed seeing a movie with open captions because it was so cool to finally understand a movie.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing people would like to see more open captions for other movies so that they can understand what is happening. Captions are not only for the deaf; some hearing people enjoy it too. They make the movies accessible to more people.
We would like to express our support and thanks to Signature Theatres for providing our community with this service. We hope to have more open-captioned movies in the future.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing students from Pearl City High School
