Sacrifice

Doug Groft admitted as he walked down the halls of Scott Key High School that he probably couldn't find his way around now, with all of the additions over the years. He could, however, remember clearly the four years he served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, and it was those memories he shared with a science class on Wednesday, Nov. 9. While he didn't travel to Vietnam - by "luck of the draw," he said - he did travel to the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Middle East on an aircraft carrier.

Jay Hancock 's article about shared sacrifices was well written and I couldn't agree more with his main thrust of putting everything on the table for all to sacrifice, from entitlements to cuts in spending to raising revenue ("Fixing America needs contributions from everybody," Oct. 2). I will point to one piece and take another point of view. That is Medicare. I believe there is a way to reform Medicare making it more solvent without sacrifice. I suggest lowering the age of eligibility for Medicare to 55. This would add about 20 million new younger premium paying subscribers to Medicare.

Your editorial lauding President Obama's call for a balanced approach to spending and taxes rings hollow indeed ("Shared sacrifice," Sept. 20). The president's supporters and apologists have little left to cling to other than abstract phrases and themes from his speeches. We all know that's exactly what his jobs plan and his deficit reduction plans are: Just speeches. The jobs plan he outlined to Congress weeks ago hasn't yet made its way to a vote. Meanwhile he travels the country accusing the Republicans of obstructing a plan that can't be voted on. His deficit reduction plan is the same thing: A campaign speech.

The most consequential national tax policy change during the past three decades has been the steady shift of the nation's tax burden from wealth to work. This shift in tax priorities is connected to stagnant growth, unemployment, economic inequality, societal stress and, of course, our national deficit and debt problems. It wasn't always this way. The 25 years following World War II were a time of great American prosperity, growth and expansion of the middle class. I can't tell you how many Americans old enough to remember have told me America was a better country then, and economically speaking, they're right.

A whole lot of Democrats and independents were probably delighted to hear President Barack Obama demonstrate a little more resolve in the deficit reduction debate today. In unveiling his $3 billion proposal to reduce federal debt over the next decade through both spending cuts and tax increases, the president also outlined some core principles — among them that he won't support any measure that requires the middle class and poor to do all the sacrificing in order to preserve tax loopholes and other advantages for the rich.

To President Obama and members of Congress: When will you as leaders and representatives of a very large group of seniors start to wake up and realize, that the United States government cannot continue to pay for everything. At the age of 81, I do look forward to my Social Security monthly check and my Medicare insurance when needed. However, taking a cut would not put me in my grave any quicker. I learned at an early age if we could not afford to pay our bills, we did without!

My daughter is in her second enlistment with the Air Force and is currently serving at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan through her assignment at Fort Meade. I'm an employee of the state of Maryland and for the past three years have had my salary reduced through mandatory furloughs. I also continue to pay over $1,000 a year to park, but I remain grateful that I have a job. My husband has been unemployed on and off since 2009. Just recently, he was 24 hours away from obtaining a start date for a construction supervisor job at BWI when he received a call rescinding the job offer because airport construction jobs were put on hold.

All too often we lose sight of not only the sacrifices made by families and military members in support of our free nation it but is also important to remember how honorably the soldiers who pay the ultimate sacrifice are cared for on their journey "home. " The care and compassion shown by the men and women at Dover Air Force Base who are given such an important mission in handling every detail of the lost military members to dealing with family members suffering the heartbreaking loss of a loved one is something not seen very often.

The annual Monday morning ceremony in Arbutus honoring America's veterans lasted less than 30 minutes. But for some in the small crowd that gathered May 30 near the flag pole at the intersection of Oregon and Carville avenues with Sulphur Spring Road, the service took them back years. "I think about all the boys we lost over there," said Nick Brocato, who served in World War II and is a 15-year member of American Legion Dewey Lowman Post 109 that sponsored the event. That sense of loss was shared by Arbutus resident Steve Thaxter, who has attended the event every year since moving to his home on Carville Avenue in 2004.

Ask children what Memorial Day means to them and they'll frequently say: "That's the day that the pools open. " Yet no other observance in America is more somber: It is the day we remember our war dead, pay homage to their sacrifice and courage, and recall the selflessness that embodies military service. Memorial Day also honors the families of the fallen: the mother who hears her child's 21-gun salute; the husband or wife who receives a folded flag; the young son or daughter who knows mom or dad only from a photograph.