Letters to the editor, Jan. 11, 2012

Show more support for veterans

It’s been a while since people have heard from The United States Troops/Veterans Support Group, but we weren’t aware that the war was over, and all the troops came home, because that’s the way the patriotic support for our troops/veterans is starting to feel around here, and our group has been here since 2003, most of all because Barstow is such a heavy concentrated area for military families there should be an abundance of support around here.

Now that the holidays are over its time to start thinking about doing all we can do to get our troops home ASAP and show as much patriotic support for our troops/veterans as we possibly can while they are still there. Our group even opened a Support Our Troops/Veterans Thrift Store in the old Barstow mall in 2009. All the people who work there are great volunteers, and no one gets paid. All money made by the store goes to rent, and electricity. The rest of the money goes to helping support the troops/veterans whenever and wherever we can. We have even appropriated power chairs and loaned them out to disabled troops until they get theirs from the VA system. We have even gave a few of them to troops/veterans to keep that couldn’t get around on their own. All these extra power chairs were donated to our group from various patriotic persons in Barstow. We opened this store for all those people who said that they would help the troops if they only knew how. Well we gave them the how by donating things to the store or shopping in the store you help support the troops/veterans in the immediate area because anything made by the group or the store stays in this area.

We need a lot more members in the group and we only meet once a month on the third Tuesday of the month at the Veterans Home in Barstow on Veterans Parkway, behind the college in Bldg. F at 7 p.m.. Then a few of us go to Denny’s for coffee after. Anyone can help in a lot of positions within the group such as drivers to and from shopping or the hospital, sitting out at different stores for membership drives. There’s a lot to be done but it takes patriotic people with a big heart to do it.

I know Barstow can be a very patriotic town when it wants to be. We can’t let people think our town isn’t as patriotic as other towns — we have the heart here.

Dave Epstein, Barstow