Jack,

Being in the Navy is danger iteself. 10-20% of all the flyers in the US Navy don't make it to retirement, they crash and die.

Read the book The Right Stuff the begining section tells of the hazards of pilots.

As to normal sailors, My dad almost died three times when he was in the Navy. Ok it was World War II but what really happend was that my dad left a patrol ship on the Oregon coast. He left all his valuables with a buddy and went to a new assignement. A week later the ship went down in a storm and everybody died. It turned turtle and now rest off the Oregon coast.

Another time, he was in the fantale of the USS Biloxi? and he and a buddy were talking and when the saw a torpedo heading for where they were standing. They yelled to the bridge and got the ship turned in time. If they had not seen the danger, he said it would have killed them.

Another time he was ordered to leave Alaska. He gave up his seat to a Navy Commander. The plane went down and everybody died. It was storming in Alaska and he said that the plane he took to get out of Alaska set down 6 times. He never would fly again.

Now in the real world. My friend Curts nephew, Caleb was on the USS Cole when it was attacked in Aden. He was the first diver down to try to rescue his friends who were killed.

In the real world, in the Army, things happen and people die.

Many serviceman are not in harms way, but others are.

As to the immigrants, don't live in the West do you. Politicians from Mexico came to the Yakima Valley last year to campaign for election. You see amoung the thousands or millions of illegal aliens, so many are here that the policticans are follwing the voters.

In the agriculure and forrest service work, ie farming or planting trees, etc large percentages are illegal.

Its not worthwhile to go on, this is just one issue.

My office is filled with American flags. Before September 11, the only person who had an American Flag up is? take one guess. I'm embarrased now to have it up now because it seems like, I'm one of the crowd part of the temporary hysteria.?

Some of us just try to do our best, I'm in this for the long haul.

Wes Prichard