This is something that appeared in our local paper and I thought that it really has some validity. As a vet I kinda feel the same way. I hope this isn't too long of a post but I would like the moderators and our forum host to consider it in it's entirety.
Veterans group sends president its 6-point plan on immigration
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, May 2, 2006
CAPE MAY POINT  Korean War veteran Patrick Sbarra says he didn't take hot shrapnel in his legs at the Battle of T-Bone Hill so America could become “a colony of Mexico.â€ÂÂÂ
He wasn't fighting for bilingual education as an exploding phosphorous bomb burned his left arm. That day he fought for his country, June 9, 1952, a day when more than 500 of his comrades died, he says he was fighting for a country that spoke English.
Sbarra, in fact, calls it absolute treason that a town in Texas has elected a Mexican mayor and chosen Spanish as its official language. You can probably guess what Sbarra, a national field coordinator for Combat Veterans of America, a group of combat-tested soldiers with chapters in all 50 states, thinks of Monday's immigrant boycott.
“We are just fed up. We combat solders did not fight and die for our country so that these immigrants can fly their previous country's flag. This is our land, not Mexico's,†Sbarra said.
Sbarra, 77, of Brainard Avenue, has a few reasons for feeling so strongly. One is his family history. When his grandfather Cosmo Barra (the s was mistakenly added) emigrated from Italy in 1893 to Staten Island, he wanted to Americanize as quickly as possible. That's the way it used to be, Sbarra said.
“We're Americans now. In my house, you don't speak Italian,†Cosmo used to tell visitors to his Staten Island home.
Learning English is one of six demands the Combat Veterans of America is asking lawmakers to put in any new immigration laws. Sbarra said one of the group's members recently called a heating and air conditioning wholesaler in New York, and the person who answered the phone said he had to speak Spanish.
“That disturbs me tremendously. It's going to destroy our customs, our culture and everything else. That's why we fought World War I, and II, the Korean War, the Civil War, the War of 1812 and whatever. I want the America of Adams and Jefferson, and I'm not the only one who feels that way,†Sbarra said.
Unlike some veteran groups, Combat Veterans of America does not take any public money and does take political positions. Sbarra said some veteran groups are more interested in their clubhouse and their dances.
“When you're in combat, you think differently,†said Sbarra, a retired police officer who served as a U.S. Army medic in Korea.
The group's stance has been sent to President George Bush, all 50 governors and every county clerk in the country. Sbarra drafted most of it in consultation with other veterans. It claims to speak for all U.S. soldiers wounded or killed in the past 230 years and calls for the following changes to immigration laws.
Immigrants must live in the U.S. legally for five years before becoming citizens;
They must learn English;
They will not receive any government funds during this time;
To attend American schools they must have employment and pay taxes;
There will be no bilingual teaching in schools;
They cannot march or demonstrate using a foreign flag.
Sbarra said the combat veterans were distressed by seeing Mexicans in southern California demanding the area be given back to Mexico. He said a border town in Texas elected a Mexican mayor and passed a law to make Spanish the official language. Sbarra said this is treason, and U.S. soldiers did not die in battle so the Mexican flag can be marched down the streets of America.
The group is also against government handouts to immigrants. They say Mexicans come here because America has the best economic system in the world.
“Now they want to turn America into a Mexican system that has not worked for over 100 years,†states the letter.
Sbarra said Combat Veterans have won some previous victories. When leaflets in English were dropped from planes in Afghanistan, the group heard 95 percent of the Afghan people could not speak read English. They wrote the president, and shortly thereafter, the campaign, using radios by then, was broadcast in the native language.
They group also wrote officials in Iraq with advice about combating suicide bombers during the first election. The letter cost $108 in postage, but the advice was followed and the election was successful. Advice included stopping all traffic the day of the election, putting cement blocks around voting booths, and protecting police stations.
The group was the first to call for Purple Hearts for passengers on Flight 93, the Sept. 11 plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Sbarra said they wrote the president and his chief of staff.
“Ten days later  it always happens 10 days later  President Bush gave the highest civilian award to those who tried to take back the plane,†Sbarra said.
Will the latest push by a group of aging veterans get a response? Sbarra said there is another option.
“Maybe I'll take a ride down and help build the wall,†Sbarra said.
To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:
RDegener@pressofac.com
Gary Shoemake
When Spirits Dance LLC |
Philadelphia, PA (Really Bensalem)