This month, a family tragedy worth discovering
Bloomington, Ind.: September is National Suicide Prevention Month. I wasn’t expecting to find a loose, folded note among the pages of an old family scrapbook. The dislodged piece of paper turned out to be a suicide note my paternal grandfather, Oral, had written to my grandmother and father before taking his own life on Dec. 27, 1932. He was a captain in the Indiana National Guard in Muncie and apparently highly respected. I didn’t know much else about him. My father, an only child, was 9 at the time. He rarely spoke of his father except for his manner of death.
I researched the incident in the Muncie newspapers’ archives and found an article dated Dec. 28, 1932. My grandfather had shot himself in his office at the Muncie armory with a .45-caliber pistol. He had been struggling with financial problems at the time and believed that the insurance money his family would receive upon his death could help them get through these tough times. This is the note he typed on Indiana National Guard stationery, dated Dec. 26:
“My darling babies: in one respect this looks like a terrible trick to play on you, but in another way it looks like the only way out for all of us. I am sorry that I had to play this dirty rotten trick on you, but this way you will have a little money left and as it is you have nothing. Darling try to find someone that will be good to you. Hot shot be sure to mind your Mother always. Good By My Darlings. [Signed] Your Daddy.” Scott T. Thompson
All from abroad
Bronx: I went to a Mets game at Citi Field, went into the merchandise store and every single item — “Official MLB” jerseys, hats, balls, shirts — all made in China, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Malaysia. Not one single item made in America. It boggles my mind how MLB allows this team’s owners to profit in billions of dollars. This is the epitome of disgusting. What has happened to pride in this country? John Cirolia
We just don’t get it
Manhattan: Leonard Greene with another truth that the masses won’t accept on gun control (“Don’s aim is off target,” column, Aug. 31). A quote from “New Jack City”: “Just like you did with alcohol during Prohibition. You’re the one who’s guilty. I mean, c’mon, let’s kick the ballistics here: Ain’t no Uzi’s made in Harlem. Not one of us in here owns a poppy field. This thing is bigger than Nino Brown. This is big business. This is the American way.” — Nino Brown. And to add another facts-over-feelings quote: “You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers, but you start to follow the money and you don’t know where the F it’s gonna take you.” — Det. Lester Freamon of “The Wire.” The money leads to the same government officials who give you fake tears as the NRA lines their pockets. Cognitive dissonance is a hell of a drug in America. Edward Scott
What’s more callous?
Manhattan: Voicer Steven Davies accuses me of writing callous and ignorant questions to his letter. Notice that he skips over the issues of Gaza tunnels. What purpose do they serve? Under hospitals, mosques and schools? Oh, like concourses in Rockefeller Center? Shop, eat and visit a starving hostage? I’ve been called ignorant before. As to being callous, you can support savages who still hold 20 hostages and 20 corpses as poker chips, but being callous is in the eyes of the beholder. Robert J. Katz
Historic injustice
Bronx: Do you see the similarity of what’s going on in Gaza with what America did to Native Americans? A new Trail of Tears as Gazans are marched out of their homes, starved and killed. Israel also has a Manifest Destiny to go all the way to the Mediterranean. Edwin Garcia
A league of their own
Brooklyn: There are so many news stories today that are painful and angering, but there are some that bring hope. One bright-spot story is the news about the WPBL (Women’s Pro Baseball League) tryouts. They may not be the first women’s baseball league, but I’m hoping they will succeed and bring inspiration to millions of sports fans. Like the WNBA, they have the potential to be an exciting sports option across the U.S. Ellen Levitt
Blunt instruments
Ledyard, Conn.: Let me be clear that I’m not disrespecting soldiers or police officers. However, too many people seek an easy answer to complicated problems. President Trump wants cities to have a National Guard presence to deter crime. It meets his narcissistic need to have a show of force. Sean Hannity says metal detectors and armed guards will keep our kids safe in school. That gets him media attention without needing to actually know what he’s talking about. Is a police state really what we want for our children? Why are people willing to spend billions of dollars for a police and military response to social issues rather than on preventative measures? I can think of a lot of reasons why guns on the streets and in our schools won’t work in any meaningful, long-term way. We’re smarter than this. We need to work on cooperative and constructive problem-solving instead. Lisa Allen
Lay it out
Dumont, N.J.: To Voicer Nick Di Pasquale: Please let me and the 40,000-plus fans who regularly walk in the Bronx, allegedly the worst section of it, to attend Yankees games know exactly what we are supposed to be afraid of. Latinos or other people of color? And while you’re at it, Nick, let me know if the National Guard troops you want to be deployed to the Bronx will be properly trained to carry out their new assignments like the troops recently deployed in Washington, D.C., i.e. collecting trash and landscaping. I’d also like to know if the troops will be provided with new bullet- and sandwich-proof vests. The Bronx, as you say, is a dangerous place. Sandwiches and heroes can be purchased everywhere. Walter Wolfgang Papenfuss
Occupation hazards
Dublin: To Voicer Nick Di Pasquale: As a regular visitor to New York City on my annual holiday to the states, I assure you that I will cancel my planned trip to your beautiful city if armed military troops are deployed there. I’d prefer not to rekindle memories of when British troops were deployed in cities in Ireland. Instead, I’ll schedule trips to either Canada, Australia or perhaps even a European country where authoritarian military rule has not taken hold. If ever I get the urge to visit a country where the military is a regular part of the landscape, I’ll holiday in North Korea or Venezuela. Sean Thornton
We pay
Fairfield, Conn.: To Voicer Luana Dunn: You question just whose side the judges are on for striking down Trump’s tariffs in his effort to decrease a national debt of $37 trillion. The answer is the judges are on the side of the law. I might add that those tariffs would be paid for by the consumer. You do also realize that the $3 trillion Trump added to the deficit will be paid for by us, the middle class. And if for one second you think tariffs are going to put a dent in the deficit, I’ve got the proverbial bridge I’d like to sell you. Stephen Johnson
False statements
Richmond Hill: To Voicer Greg Todd: You need to verify your facts and information before making false comments. Your statement that the U.S. had the most COVID deaths in the world: false. As of Aug. 29, the U.S. ranked 17th in deaths per capita. Research shows death rates due to COVID decreased significantly after availability of COVID-19 vaccines, which prevented millions of deaths. Your statement that the CDC is “run by the drug cartel”: false. CDC is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. COVID vaccines are responsible for those who committed the shootings around the U.S.: false. There isn’t any evidence that those shooters were vaccinated. You stated that CDC will not disclose the number of people who have died from complications of the vaccine: false. Eight billion doses were administered and only 55 cases were possibly linked to the vaccine. Ene Kelly
