Banning media protects lives
In response to George Deutsch’s Sept. 26th column:
Mr. Deutsch’s idea of letting the media accompany the military during combat operations may sound like a great idea in the classroom and on paper, unfortunately it doesn’t work nearly that well out in the field. My own experience in dealing with the media came while serving as a machine gunner in the United States Marine Corps in Somalia in 1995. My gun team, along with three others, was sent in ahead of the rest of the battalion to secure the area. As soon as we hit the beach, reporters and cameramen were all over us.
Everytime a firefight would break out, media personnel would come rushing in. There is enough to worry about when a sniper is taking shots at you and your fellow Marines without having to worry about some reporter or cameraman getting in your way and compromising your life or the lives of your fellow Marines. The ban on civilian media accompaniment of our troops is to protect the lives of our fighting men and it is the right thing to do.
Steve Criddle
Class of 2004
UT grad admires Aggie pride
As a 4th generation UT graduate, I never fully understood the Spirit of Aggieland until Saturday, Sept. 22nd. I was on campus to watch my son, Kenneth, who is a fish in the Corps. Once I saw the t-shirts, I had to have one and to attend the game. Thank goodness I could still get a ticket. The half time performance of the Aggie Band was incredible and in the silence prior to the playing of God Bless America someone yelled, “Beat the hell Outta, bin laden!” Before I knew it, I let out a whoop! with the rest of the Aggies. I am so proud of the students’ efforts to RWB Out Kyle Field and of the cooperative efforts of Aggies across the state to produce the shirts. The patriotism displayed by the current and former A&M students was obvious. They are the type of people who have and will continue to make our country great.
Ann Symanek
Get off the phone
If there is one thing that was never meant to happen in the progression of mankind, I think it would be talking on a cell phone while riding a bike. There is a fundamental problem with using one hand to steer and the other to hold a cell phone to make an undoubtedly important phone call.
I used to get frustrated with traffic on freeways caused by distracted drivers talking on cell phones, but I think that this is a far greater danger to people. It amazes me that people can ride their bikes around campus wherever they want and expect priority over the vast majority of campus, pedestrians.
Thomas Franklin
Class of 2005