This page was last updated on May 15, 2011.
Conduct unbecoming; Omie Svetlick; Beaver County Times; May 15, 2011.
This is at least the third letter from Ms. Svetlick since January 2008. This is the first Svetlick letter I critiqued.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“I’ve thought about this for a few days.
“I am really upset and ashamed of some Americans lately.
“When I saw people at Ground Zero, Shanksville, and Washington screaming and applauding when bin Laden was killed, I was ashamed.
“We’re not a country of infidels. We are Americans. I fly the flag, love this country and salute by holding my right hand over my heart when I am supposed to.”
[RWC] Whether a person is an infidel or not depends on another person’s religious beliefs.
“We’ve seen people celebrating when they capture one of ours and behead them. Some Americans acted like that when bin Laden was killed.”
[RWC] Whether she intended to or not, Ms. Svetlick compared the response to the killing of American noncombatants and the military that defends us to the response to the killing of a murdering terrorist.
“God says we are not to be too proud. Well, that is great because I wasn’t too proud of some of our patriots lately.
“We should be sad that it came to this.
“We should be proud of our soldiers who fight and give up their lives for that same flag. I am proud that our area wasn’t part of the show.”
[RWC] When I heard of bin Laden’s demise, I gave a “thumbs up” sign and uttered a low “way to go” for our intelligence and military operations. That said, I’d never be ashamed of anyone who celebrated the death of a murderer of thousands of innocent people.
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