Newspaper Page Text
Tribune & Georgian
Opinion
Wednesday, July 10,2013
Don’t make it
a thankless
profession
I f you enjoyed a safe Fourth of July, thank
law enforcement officers and other pub
lic safety personnel.
They are the people you see roaming the
annual Independence Day festival in St.
Marys, keeping an eye out for medical emer
gencies and watching for security risks.
It is easy to see the officers as just some
one in a uniform, but those people, as they
always do, are giving up time and holidays
with their families to protect yours.
In the first part of this year alone, officers
have confiscated drugs, tracked down regis
tered sex offenders, trained to better do
their jobs and collected evidence from meth
labs.
Law enforcement is a challenging profes
sion. Officers deal with difficult people, long
hours and — at this time of the year —
wearing body armor beneath a polyester
uniform in nearly 90-degree weather with
80-percent humidity.
It shouldn’t be a thankless profession,
though. Saying thank you only takes a mo
ment.
How to contact...
Rep. Jason Spencer, State House
Jason.spencer@house.ga.gov
www.staterepspencer.com
Camden —(912) 541 -0243
28 Yachtsmen Court,Woodbine GA 3 1569
Sen. William Ligon, State Senate
William@senatorligon.com
www.senatorligon.com
Glynn —(912) 261-2263
158 Scranton Connector, Brunswick GA 31525
Rep. Jack Kingston, U.S. House
Kingston.house.gov
Brunswick —(912) 265-9010
Washington, D.C.— (202) 225-583 I
Rep. Ellis Black, State House
District 174
blackellis@bellsouth.net
www.ellisblack.com
Valdosta — (229) 251 -0303
5900 Jumping Gully Road,Valdosta GA 31601
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, U.S. Senate
chambliss.senate.gov • (229) 985-21 12
Sen. Johnny Isakson, U.S. Senate
lsakson.senate.gov • (770) 661-0999
Tribune & Qeorgian
P. O. Box 6960 — 206 Osborne Street
St. Marys, Georgia 31558
(912) 882-4927 - Fax (912) 882-6519
Publication Number (086-640)
ISSN Number (1551-8353)
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Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink.
"I see grocery prices are still going up."
Watching ‘War and Peace’
Y es, “watching” “War
and Peace” because
there is a film version
of the great Tolstoy novel
that I believe — and feel —
is one of the best and most
moving motion pictures ever
made. It’s now on DVD, of
course.
War and Peace (1956) is
my “Gone with the Wind.”
Just as some people can
watch “Gone with the
Wind” again and again, I
watch “War and Peace” over
and over and seem to find it
richer and better each time.
The story portrays a tradi
tional society, Russia, in the
period of 1805 to 1813, at
tacked by a revolutionary
force (Napoleon’s France).
Marvelous costumes and
landscapes and buildings and
interiors provide what Aris
totle called the “Spectacle”
of the work.
The two major male char
acters are Andrey (Mel Fer
rer), a prince and a soldier,
and his closest friend, Pierre
(Henry Fonda), an intellec
tual and a well-meaning
bumbler. Andrey always
knows his duty and does it.
Pierre always questions and
explores the meaning of life.
Early in the film he says to
Andrey, “I want to discover.
... I want to discover why I
know what is right and still
do what is wrong. I want to
discover what happiness is.
And what value there is in
suffering. I want to discover
why men go to war. And
what they really say deep in
their hearts when they pray
to God. I want to discover
what it is men and women
feel when they say they love.
You see, there’s enough to
keep me busy.”
Later when asked to add to
a list of life’s greatest pleas-
Fred Hill
Opinion
ures, Pierre answers, “To be
able to believe in God, to
cause happiness, to love.”
Yet his quest for answers
never ends.
Pierre goes as an uninvited
observer to the Battle of
Borodino where Prince An
drey is commanding a regi
ment of troops under the
leadership of Gen. Michael
Kutuzov. Pierre tells Andrey
he had to come. “How can
you love or hate a thing
you’ve never seen,” he says.
But Pierre is not just a cu
rious bystander. He is almost
run over by horse soldiers.
He is nearly crushed by a
band of troops rushing down
a hill. He is knocked to the
ground by a cannon’s explo
sion some five yards in front
of him. Finally, he picks up a
fallen Russian soldier and
begins to carry him toward a
distant medical station.
When he finally gets there, a
doctor tells him the man is
dead.
Under fire, the sometimes
bumbler becomes heroic.
Pierre stumbles against a
tree and yells out his hatred
of Napoleon and of war.
In fact, Pierre seems to
embody human goodness as
he answers the profoundest
questions of life.
The two main women in
the film, Natasha (Audrey
Hepburn) and Helene (Anita
Ekberg) are vastly different.
Natasha is warm, natural,
honest, caring. Helene, a
great beauty, is cold, calcu
lating, even cruel. She mar
ries Pierre just after learning
he is inheriting his father’s
riches and estates. The mar
riage doesn’t last long. He
lene is soon seen with other
men.
Both Pierre and Andrey
secretly adore Natasha, but
they feel they are too old
and unworthy to declare
their love for so young and
lovely a female just evolving
the status of a “girl.”
At last, Andrey and
Natasha do become en
gaged. But despite their deep
mutual love, Natasha is
swept into an irresistible pas
sion by the dashing rogue,
Anatole, Helene’s brother,
while Andrey is away on a
diplomatic mission. But
Anatole is only after the
quick satisfaction of his care
less lust. But here the grow
ing maturity of Pierre causes
him to intervene. Pierre
waits outside Natasha’s
Moscow home and inter
cepts Anatole’s carriage and
drives him away before Ana
tole can thrust Natasha into
degradation. But when An
drey learns of Natasha’s be
trayal, the engagement is
broken.
After Andrey is seriously
wounded there is a brief rec
onciliation, but Andrey dies
of his wounds while Natasha
tends to his suffering.
As the film moves toward
its dramatic end, the old
rather slovenly but strong
Gen. Kutuzov begins to
emerge as the saviour of
Russia. All through the war,
Kutuzov has maintained a
plan of retreat. He moves his
army and even the Russian
people back, forcing
Napoleon and his army to
pursue and finally to overex
tend its resources. Kutuzov
even orders the evacuation
of Moscow in September of
1812. The French inhabit an
empty city, short of supplies
and facing the Russian win
ter. Throughout the film,
Gen Kutuzov repeats his
motto, “Time and patience.
Patience and time.” The
French are forced to leave
Moscow in late October
1812.
Now the agonizing march
across the Russian landscape
is depicted. Men fall out,
their women fall frozen from
carriages, prisoners are shot.
Pierre is caught up in the
death march. He had been
captured as a prisoner when
he tried to rescue a Russian
woman being molested by
French troops. But Pierre is
now strong, healthy, deter
mined. From the little Russ
ian peasant Karataev, also a
prisoner, Pierre learns an ac
ceptance of God’s will in all
things.
Perhaps the mightiest les
son that War and Peace
teaches is endurance; en
durance in love, endurance
in war. When Natasha and
her family return to their
only half-destroyed home in
Moscow, Pierre, now freed,
also returns. At last, he does
declare his long-held love for
Natasha. She accepts that
love in the final scene. She
says to Pierre, “You are like
this house. You suffer, but
you stand.”
Fred Hill is a regular Wednes
day columnist in the Tribune &
Georgian.
Letters to the Editor
Camden is a
fine community
Dear Editor,
Although late in coming,
we wish to express our sin
cere appreciation to all the
individuals and organizations
who assisted us in dealing
with our house fire on June
19, 2011. We are very thank
ful for our neighbors, Don
and Barbara Tuverson, who
observed the fire while we
were on vacation and alerted
the fire department immedi
ately. We are grateful for
their continued support and
affirmation.
We appreciate the excel
lent work of the St. Marys
Fire Department, under the
direction of assistant chief
(Tom) Lackner, and the nu
merous squads and volun
teers who remained on the
scene well into the morning
hours. They represent such
an important part of our
community and their excel
lent work saved our home.
We also thank the security
department of Osprey Cove
who remained on the scene
through the night to secure
the building until we re
turned. We give special
thanks to our friend Tina
Hood, who has shown con
tinued interest, inspiration
and support. Her suggestion
that we contact Benchmark
Public Adjusters to address
insurance issues made all the
difference.
We also express our appre
ciation to the W.H. Gross
Construction Company
whose skilled craftsmen
turned our modest home
into a work of art. Project
manager Avery Green told
his men to treat any salvage
able item “as if it were their
own” and set them aside for
possible reclamation. Al
though a devastating ordeal
to contend with, it is now a
blessing to live in such a
beautiful home.
To all of these individuals
and countless others not in
cluded in this letter, we ex
press our sincere apprecia
tion. Their efforts confirm
our positive perspective on
what a fine community we
live in.
Stephen R. Thompson and
Cheryle P. Thompson
St. Marys
City should
follow its rules
Dear Editor,
An article in the Tribune
& Georgian dated July 3,
2013, detailed new findings
See LETTERS, page 5A