I was a contractor in Iraq from October 2004 'til March 2006 with five months in the states for healing from gunshot wounds.

I was not a mercenary; I did not carry a weapon. I drove trucks and heavy equipment transporters for KBR and was under control of the U.S. Army. I carried an ID card; I was subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice while in Iraq. I was not a war profiteer.

The people who drive convoys and do recovery outside the wire in Iraq are U.S. Army contractors. I was a GS-12.

The people of this country know very little about the civilians who risk their lives to help out in Iraq every day. There are numerous civilians who also have paid the ultimate sacrifice. I know several who will never be the same from wounds received there.  I am one of them.

I want to make sure the public knows what is going on in Iraq.  When the military gives casualty figures, they do not include “civilians.” The Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (logcap) has been going on since World War II. It was going on in Bosnia under President Clinton and was just transferred to Iraq under President Bush.

So the next time you see someone with an Operation Iraqi Freedom shirt or jacket on, tell them thanks, too. They are probably one of those “civilian” veterans from the sandbox.

Wallace McNabb, Lincoln

Senate ads alienating

Subject: E-I-E-I-Oh-My.

There once were two men from Nantucket. Couldn’t fit all their wealth into a bucket. So each spent millions on ads worth peanuts, and now we have thousands of voters saying $#%^&!.

I cannot help but notice the closer to election time we get, the more alienated our candidates (for Senate) seem to appear.

I don’t even remember these boys’ political platform. What are the issues besides Ameritrade, turkeys and unpaid property taxes? Anyone?

Barbara Arendt, Lincoln

Ricketts ad embarrasses

Unbelievable.  During a commercial break in the evening news I saw the cartoon political ad sponsored by Pete Ricketts that depicts Ben Nelson shooting turkeys to the tune of “Old McDonald.”

I’ve seen immature cartoons like this at different Web sites that specialize in political humor, and they can be quite funny, but never imagined that it would get used by a real political candidate or professional who has been hired to run a campaign.

I was filled with embarrassment for the TV station, the news broadcaster who had to follow that interruption with real news, and most of all for Pete Ricketts, who proudly announced at the end that he endorsed this ad.  And I felt discouraged about our entire system of running for political office.

The message of the cartoon was completely lost for me until I had a chance to read about it in the paper the next day.  Anyone who endorses that doesn’t belong in Washington.

Jeff Weber, Denton

Teachers not part time

I am writing this letter in response to Rob Miles’ letter of Sept. 24, “Well-paid part-timers.”

Mr. Miles must not have an educator in his family or household.  If he did, he would understand that teachers are not part-timers as he suggested. He would see how my colleagues and I are working several hours beyond our “contract” hour and then an hour or more after the dinner hour and then a number of hours on the weekend and on “fall, winter and spring breaks.”

Not only do we teach students, but we also have to plan our lessons, help students to be good citizens, help students when they need assistance with medical or other needs, assess students, record the data from the assessments, meet with parents, meet with students, meet and plan with colleagues, make copies of their teaching and learning materials, attend after-school activities, make phone calls to parents, meet with school specialists, attend instructional and staff meetings and plan individual educational plans. 

Oh, and let’s not forget that we attend staff development sessions and college during the summer to better prepare ourselves to be proficient in the classroom.

Does Miles believe that all of these activities can be done in a seven-hour day? We are not paid by the hour but are salaried and paid by the job.  We work until the work is done. 

A 10- or 11-hour day more accurately would reflect the number of hours I spend on an average throughout the year. These hours equate to nearly 52 weeks of a 40-hour week. So much for Miles’ calculation of what he thinks my “lucrative” hourly salary is.  So much for Miles’ thinking that I need to put in even more hours to deserve a “vacation.” Does Miles still believe I am part time?

I would like Mr. Miles to follow me for a week, from the time I leave for school in the morning until my work is done each day. By the way, I went home from school at 3 a.m. and returned at 7:15 a.m. today!

Jennifer Van Winkle, Lincoln

423 not a Nebraska idea

Remember being hit up by petitioners last summer?  Well, where are they now?  More than likely in another state, trying to place issues on someone else’s ballot being financed by yet another fat cat from the East Coast.  I served as a voter educator during the summer, because I care about my community and I care about how outside money and influences affect me as a Nebraskan.

We’ll be heading to the polls in November and asked to make a decision on Initiative 423. Initiative 423 is not a Nebraska grass-roots effort, it’s a bad idea being pushed on us by New York City multimillionaire Howard Rich.

He’s trying the same thing in other states, and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) has been kicked off the ballot, or hasn’t made it to the ballot, because of fraud in Missouri, Oklahoma, Montana, Michigan and Nevada just this year. Nebraskans just have to look west to see the ill effects of TABOR in Colorado.

Nebraskans can think and act for ourselves. I just have to ask … why do New York City investors want to change our state’s constitution? What’s in it for them? Will they be here next year to feel the effects of their efforts? Of course not, because they aren’t residents of our state. Shouldn’t Nebraskans be the ones to determine what is best for us?

Laurie Fraser, Lincoln