Midway and Saipan battles of WWII should also be remembered; trying to make sense of Jan. 6 Capitol justice | READER COMMENTARY

June should be celebrated for America’s WWII victories

This is in response to Dean Minnich’s recent column “Maybe it’s time we got rid of some traditions.” Minnich said “I knew I was in for bad times when I heard ordinary, everyday Americans — people who think of themselves as good Americans and good people — say they like Donald Trump because he says what they think. That tells me the pernicious roots were not planted by Trump.” He just feeds them and finds support in those who fear being forced to defend their versions of history.

Democrats, not Trump voters, destroy statutes of our founding fathers and use slavery and racism to blame people today for something that happened two centuries ago. They conveniently forget America fought a Civil War that cost more than 750,000 lives (2.5% of the population) to free the slaves. The Democrats hijacked June for a month-long commemoration of (LGBTQ) to advance their gender identify fantasy and you are the problem if you disagree.

Regardless of Minnich’s self-righteous rhetoric the following examples aren’t my version of history, they are history. June should be revered and celebrated for America freeing the world from totalitarianism during WWII, not insanity.

There were three American battles in June that were turning points of WWII. First was the battle of Midway in June 1942 where the outnumbered Americans destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers (all four were at Pearl Harbor) and most of their pilots for the loss of the Yorktown, 150 planes and 320 sailors and airmen and turned the tide of the Pacific war.

Next was D-Day June 6, 1944, the epic invasion of Normandy, France, made possible because of the powerful allied fleet of 1,000 war ships, 6,000 supply and landing craft and 200,000 sailors that allowed 150,000 allied troops (875,000 by end of June) to land on the beaches.

This was also the largest aerial operation in history with an estimated 13,000 allied aircraft participating, allowing 25,000 airborne soldiers to be dropped behind the German lines. Figures vary, but the 24 hours of D-Day cost America 4,400 killed and more than 6,000 wounded and the Normandy campaign cost 29,000 killed and 106,000 wounded.

In the Pacific, June 15,1944, saw the U.S. invade Saipan (so B-29s could end the war) with an armada of 535 U.S. ships and 127,000 troops, including 77,000 Marines. The three-week battle cost America more than 16,000 casualties, more than 3,000 dead and 13,000 wounded. WWII cost America more than 1,000,000 casualties: 407,000 killed and 671,000 wounded.

People should know about D-Day, but how many know about Midway and Saipan, compared to Pride (LGBTQ) Month?

Carl Burdette, Westminster

Other ‘violent’ U.S. protests didn’t see charges brought

You’ve probably never heard of Jesus Rivera. Until recently, I never had either. He was a U.S. Marine with a wife and kids. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan and survived rocket attacks and roadside bombs while trying to bring freedom to those two “hellholes.”

On Jan. 6, 2021, Rivera reports that he recorded the events at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. for a local news station back home in Florida. He says he shot the video on his smart phone and digital camera and neither protested nor attacked police.

But like so many other patriotic and naive Americans, he did enter the Capitol building that day.
His nightmare began in the early morning hours of Jan. 20, 2021, when 12 to 20 heavily armed FBI agents raided his home with guns drawn.

Now I’m no expert, but I can’t think of any justification or even “probable cause” for the intensity of that raid. And according to Rivera, the search warrant was obtained through lies and outright fraud. In fact, and again according to him, neither he nor his wife even saw a search warrant until he was handcuffed as they were leaving the house.

But his trauma of being treated this way in America had only begun. Leftist D.C. District Court Judge Colleen Collar-Kottelly sentenced him to eight months in federal prison.

My point is simply this: In 2020 alone there were roughly 500 “violent” protests across the nation where people, including police, were killed, blinded and suffered various injuries. Billions of dollars in damages were done to public and private buildings. In the aftermath, virtually no one was charged with or jailed for these “real” crimes!

And that folks is the very meaning of the “two-tiered” justice system. And, to say the least, it will be interesting to see how quickly Donald Trump, if elected in 2024, pardons those Jan. 6 people who are still imprisoned or even still awaiting trial from jail.

We sure do live in surreal times!

Dave Price, Sykesville