Print edition: 
Recall soldiers' sacrifice, heroism
"Remember Pearl Harbor — Keep America Alert" has been the motto of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association since its national charter in 1958. Since Dec. 7, 1941, 68 years ago, it has been the group's creed, strong words to follow. The survivors are fewer in number now.
A remembrance ceremony will take place at 10:55 a.m. today at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3115, 4801 W. Douglas. Pearl Harbor, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom will forever be with us, and those who fought were a part of these conflicts between nations.
If you hate war, then hate it. But never take your anger out on the men and women warriors who have to go into harm's way to fight it. As living veterans of these many wars, we all have paid a price to enjoy the freedoms of today.
I ask you to join us in our remembering of friends lost and sympathy for our soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen and their families who have suffered. Please join us to recall their sacrifices, heroism and commitment to see the job done. These men and women of Dec. 7, 1941, will not be forgotten, and let no generations forget that Day of Infamy or its important part of our U.S. history.
JAMES DENISON
Wichita
Try 'gentle answer'
After our president told us that he had decided to send 30,000 more Americans to Afghanistan, a Bible verse from Proverbs came to mind: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
God inspired those words in the Bible, so they must be true, right? So why, as the God-fearing nation that so many of us claim we are, don't we give this strategy a try?
Forgiveness, food, education (think of Greg Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea"). All of these things certainly would have brought more peace than the "war we didn't ask for" that the United States and some allies are now involved with in the Middle East.
Sept. 11, 2001, was more than eight years ago. It's time for our gentle answer to be given a try.
KRISTEN JACKSON
Wichita
A-bomb necessary
I watched as President Obama didn't answer a Japanese reporter's questions about the atomic bombing of two Japanese cities. The questions were: "What is your understanding of the historical meaning of the A- bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Do you think that it was the right decision?" The president's non-reply told the entire world how weak the man is and therefore how weak the United States might be.
My short answer would have been: "Yes, and if necessary, we will do it again."
My longer answer: The Japanese attacked the United States without warning on Dec. 7, 1941, killing 2,400 people and severely crippling our Navy. They attacked the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Malaya, Thailand, China, Burma, Hong Kong, Borneo, the East Indies and our Alaskan islands, committing atrocities all along the way. Japan signed a pact with Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy in an obvious attempt to expand its empire. It was asked numerous times to surrender, but it rejected all but the last.
I hold no grudges against the Japanese. I wish them the best, as partners. I just think it's not necessary to apologize.
BOB BASSFORD
Wichita
Cancer risk
Regarding "Don't overreact to mammogram advice" (Nov. 22 Opinion): Should women remain "calm," as columnist Kathleen Parker stated? Yes, we need to detect breast cancer early. But the bigger question is: Why are women getting breast cancer in the first place?
Consider what the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2005: "Combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives and combined estrogen-progestogen menopausal therapy are carcinogenic to humans." In January 2006, two scientists at Johns Hopkins University reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that oral contraceptives increase breast cancer risk.
Are women reading documentation accompanying birth control pills and shots that list breast cancer as a risk?
The question becomes more important with the fact that a woman can obtain the same birth control success rate naturally, without hormones or drugs, with no health risk, cost or medical monitoring requirements. The article "Natural, Why Not?" in the October/November 2009 issue of Wichita's Health Matters magazine examined how this natural mode of birth control is increasing in appeal to today's health- conscious women.
JUDITH LEONARD
Director
Office of Family Life and Natural Family Planning
Catholic Diocese of Wichita
Wichita
