LETTERS: Obama, Memorial Day, Gulf spill and more

Obama's choice didn't slight veterans . . .

On Memorial Day 1983, President Ronald Reagan had Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Thayer represent him at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ["Obama, Biden honor nation's fallen troops," News, June 1]. On Memorial Day 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle laid a wreath at the tomb while President George H.W. Bush spoke to American Legion members in Kennebunkport, Me., and played golf. Yet, the right-wing Barack Obama haters criticize him and call him "un-American," and claim his nonattendance is a slap in the face to those who served our nation. Never mind that he was at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery honoring those who gave the supreme sacrifice.

Richard Skibins

East Meadow

. . . but foreign cars were a slap in the face

What can be more American than a small-town Memorial Day parade? Giving honor and respect to those who gave their lives so we can live in a free society. High school marching bands playing "America the Beautiful." Proud veterans walking down Main Street, their numbers dwindling a little every year. The servicemen and women still enlisted walking in their dress uniforms, followed by the roar of Harley-Davidsons and some old American classic cars.

Then a Lamborghini passes, and then a Mercedes.

Sorry; such foreign cars should not be in this type of parade. It might sound petty, but to some it's a slap in the face to those men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice so you and I can be free.

Philip Boscia

Syosset

Relief wells should be required upfront

Let's not make this too complicated. All we've heard for the past month is that the only sure way to stop the leak in the Gulf is to drill a relief well ["Relief well for Gulf spill months away," News, June 1]. Starting today, anyone who wants to drill offshore should be required to drill that relief well before they ever start pumping oil. With what we pay for oil, I am sure they can figure out how to amortize the cost of the additional well.

Steven Ferens

Oceanside

Letters for Conroy should be applauded

The letters sent by Suffolk Legis. Jack Eddington (I-Medford) and his wife, Brookhaven Town Clerk Patricia Eddington, to Justice Robert W. Doyle in support of the Conroy family are not "insensitive" and "pandering to the anti-immigrant mentality," as stated by Rev. Allan Ramirez ["Pols risk wrath with letters to Lucero judge," News, May 30]. I applaud this effort to reach out to the family. What happened to Marcelo Lucero was a terrible tragedy, but please don't make him into a martyr. It is time to move on and look for humane ways to deal with illegal immigration.

Elizabeth Lerner

Lindenhurst