Letters to the editor for Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018

Remembering aftermath of attack on Pearl Harbor

Editor’s note: Charles Sehe, a Minnesota resident, is a Pearl Harbor attack survivor. The veteran was aboard the USS Nevada during the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.

The Pearl Harbor attack left the USS Nevada mired in mud and darkened throughout the lower decks. Salvaging began immediately to reclaim the Nevada from the muddied waters of the harbor.

Meanwhile, the ship’s more experienced men had volunteered to transfer to other ships, increasing their complement to full combat readiness.

I was among the 415 “skeletal crew” who were selected to remain aboard the Nevada. The majority of that number were seamen 2c, like myself.

Temporary repairs had made it possible to proceed on its own to Bremerton Navy Yard near Seattle. The nine-day crossing of the Pacific was uneventful; arriving at Puget Sound on May 1, 1942.

Wandering around the Navy yard, I came upon an old World War I battleship, HMS Warspite, a British battleship, battle-scarred and dirty. Straw was strewn across its deck and I heard a dog barking. The Warspite left the Ceylon island from a strong enemy force.

On another day in the Navy yard, a long line of shiny black limousines slowly came by. The lead car stopped and a dark-tinted window lowered. A hand raised as if to salute, then lowered.

We returned the salute. It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Charles T. Sehe

Mankato, Minn.

Who actually pays the business tax?

Business taxes, being from a “mom and pop” or a multinational corporation, are paid through the use of the profits generated by the sale of products or services offered by the business.

The selling price of the products or services is calculated to cover the cost of producing the product or service plus the cost of the taxes and to generate a profit.

The greater the tax the greater the selling price and the greater the cost to the consumer.

Those wanting higher business taxes are being dishonest as they know it is the consumer that actually pays the tax.

Sanford Deyo

Minden

Left is blowing smoke

So far in this political season my favorite dumb TV political ad by any candidate is the one about Nevada’s lousy air quality.

The liberal progressive ad claim is that bad air in Nevada is caused by Sen. Dean Heller taking money from those nasty capitalists, namely the Koch brothers.

But, then maybe the left wing should look out their windows and focus their ire on California and all their uncontrolled wildfires.

Then in the wintertime they should shift their complaining to Mother Nature who causes all those temperature inversions that clogs Nevada air on occasion.

A vote for the ultra left is not going to change Nevada’s weather patterns or what direction the winds are blowing in from.

George Gerlach

Gardnerville