THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 6, 1995 TAG: 9502030039
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Regarding ``For prison ships'' (letter, Jan. 10): I hope this isn't representative of the thoughts of the American people. I am not referring to the ships serving as prisons but rather the sentence: ``If they are good enough to house service personnel, they are certainly adequate for convicted felons.''
I have been in the military 15 years. I see my paycheck increase in increments of 2.5 percent. I watch people who work with the lottery get offered raises that will up their $90,000-plus paycheck to more than $100,000 while military personnel struggle to get by with paychecks averaging $10,000-$20,000 a year. These are the same people who serve on these ``adequate for felons'' ships. For up to and more than six continuous months, these people have no other place to live. They endure separation from families and friends and the stress associated with that.
Members of Congress give themselves pay raises that inflate their six-digit paychecks.
When will the military stop being treated as a step above convicted felon? We marched off and fought in the battles our superiors directed us to. Some didn't return. Even though the Cold War is over, there are still numerous ``policing'' duties. These duties have dozens of ships away from home and thousands of service personnel away from families.
These people keep those at bay who would otherwise seek to cause harm to others.
BARBARA BABB
Virginia Beach, Jan. 12, 1995 by CNB