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Page 4 - The Wiregrass Farmer, November 29,2017
Editorial & Opinion
The WIREGRASS FARMER - Established 1902
Official Legal Organ of Turner County
VFW’s swift action brings benefits
109 Gordon Street • P.O. Box 309 • Ashburn, GA 31714
Telephone 229-567-3655
email wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
THE WIREGRASS FARMER (USPS 687-460) is published
every Wednesday by Ashburn Newspapers, Inc., 109 N. Gordon
St, Ashburn, Georgia. Periodicals Postage Paid at Ashburn, Geor
gia.
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Farmer, 109 N. Gordon St., Ashburn, GA 31714
STAFF
Bob Tribble, President • Ben Baker, General Manager
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Letters
Two men of renown
Dear Editor,
Two babies, both destined to be great by worldly standards
both were born on February 12,1809. One was bom into poverty
& the other into wealth; one into a family lowly status & the other
into society's elite; one into true tme faith in the Creator & one
into pretense of faith. These two babies would grow into men
separated by far more than the vast distance between their conti
nents; they would be separated by the enormity of their differing
world views. One would become such a man of faith that his
knees would callous from bending in prayer to his maker & the
other would devise a theory to sway millions away from the Cre
ator. The man with calloused knees would lead a nation with the
concept of equality to all men & would push hard for that relief;
the other although himself against slavery, would popularize a
world view that would enslave multitudes & cause the death of
millions. While one wrote a proclamation declaring equality for
all men, the other wrote a book titled On the Origin of Species
with the subtitle of The Preservation of Favored Races in the
Struggle for Fife. As one was fighting a war to free men of "dark
skin" from slavery, the other called those with dark skin "de
graded" & declared he would rather have descended from a mon
key than such a "savage." The first man would give his life to
reunite a divided nation & the other would cause division not
only in his own country but in all countries for centuries to come.
Two hundred years have now passed since the renowned day
of their births & while the first man, President Abraham Fincoln,
is celebrated as the leader who led a nation to abolish slavery be
cause "all men are created equal," the second man, Charles Dar
win, is celebrated as the man who abolished the need for a
Creator. Ideas aren't without consequences. Abraham Fincoln's
ideas led to freeing men from slavery while Darwin's assumption
that men evolved by random chance led Josef Stalin, a mass mur
derer of multitudes, to become an atheist as a young man while
reading his works in seminary; it inspired Karl Marx who offered
to dedicate his book "Das Kapital" to Darwin, to state that Dar
win's theory "contains the basis in natural history for our view..."
& it influenced Hitler, a devout evolutionist who instmcted his
troops in evolution by providing them books by Darwin &
friedrich Nietzche to the idea of inferior races & thus the slaugh
ter of millions in an effort to speed the evolutionary process.
These Darwinian enthusiasts, some of the world's most notorious
& depraved leaders along with Mao, Pol Pot & other communists
leaders have murdered close to 100 million people & all of them
compliments of a theory which lessened the value of human life
to an accident of random chance, thus no greater than that of any
animal.
These two men, President Abraham Fincoln & Charles Dar
win, great by worldly standards, left two vastly differing legacies.
How is it that the first, Abraham Fincoln, is briefly mentioned in
many public classroom settings, while the other, Charles Darwin,
a "Racist Man" who promoted racist ideas that led to & justified
horrific mass genocide is frequently praised for "opening the
minds of many"?? Thank You.
Clyde Ellerbee, Jr.
to military widow
After listening to a dis
traught voicemail from mili
tary wife Barbara Helsel, VFW
Claims Representative Tom
Parker knew Barbara and her
husband, Edward, were in a
desperate situation.
Edward Helsel had recently
been diagnosed with lung can
cer as a result of exposure to
Agent Orange. He was now in
home hospice care.
Parker received the mes
sage on September 30, 2016.
He had little time to act since
the VA processes all claims at
month-end; not wasting any
time, Parker immediately
drove to the Helsel home and
retrieved signatures for same-
day claim submission.
Thanks to Parker’s efforts,
the Helsels’ claim was ap
proved. But tragically, Edward
Helsel passed away soon after,
on Memorial Day, May 29,
2017.
“Though it was a sad situa
tion, I’m glad we were able to
honor Mr. Helsel by securing
care for his widow,” Parker re
lated.
Because Edward’s claim
had been approved before he
passed away, Barbara was
granted Dependency and In-
From Where
I Sit
demnity Compensation (DIC).
Barbara said, “I’m still griev
ing the loss of my husband...
it’s all so new. But I’m very
thankful for the VFW’s help.”
Edward Helsel voluntarily
joined the U.S. Army in the
winter of 1962. A reserved and
humble man, Edward did not
share details of his experience
in Vietnam with his family.
Barbara knew he suffered
from malaria, a gunshot
wound and hearing problems.
She later found out Edward
was a Purple Heart and Bronze
Star recipient.
Barbara explained he never
filed a claim for benefits be
tween retiring from the mili
tary and his passing, because,
“he always thought someone
would need the benefits more
than him.” Edward’s graveside
service with full military hon
ors was held June 5,2017.
Barbara would advise all
active duty military members
to file for benefits immediately
after they begin the transition
back to civilian life. She said,
“Don’t wait. Veterans deserve
good care and compensation.
They’ve earned it - they an
swered the call to serve.”
All around the world the
VFW is reaching out to Amer
ica’s heroes doing long dan
gerous deployments, doing the
often difficult transitions back
to civilian life and always in
the years that follow. The
VFW supports veterans and
service members with pro
grams that make a real differ
ence which includes
educational resources and sup
port, financial assistance dur
ing hard times and help
navigating the VA system.
These programs are available
at no charge to veterans and
their families thanks to the
generosity of Patriots Circle
members.
Information for this col
umn came from VFW Patriots
Circle Quarterly.
We’d like to hear your opinion. Letters to the editor wel
come. Letters must be signed and have a phone num
ber so we can contact the writer. Phone numbers will
not be published or released.
wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
The Wiregrass Farmer, 109 N. Gordon St., Ashburn, GA
31714
109 N. Gordon St. - Ashburn, GA - 31714
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
Stepping Back In Time
with David Baldwin
Harris Hobby, Man of the Year
1950- Mr. Grady Lester
Speight, age 38, tragically died
of burns believed to have been
caused by a lighted cigarette
that was left to set fire to his
clothing as he slept. He awoke
to roll on the highway, near
Chula to try to extinguish the
fire. Some tourist wrapped him
in a blanket and rushed him to
the Tifton hospital where he
died that afternoon. Milton
Lamar Ward, his brother in
law, was found sleeping the
track nearby. The men had left
Moultrie to go fishing near Ir
win ville. Mr. Speight was bom
in Tallapoosa March 2, 1912,
the son of Mr. and Mrs. W.R.
Speight. He came to Ashburn
when a young boy with his
parents, who resided here until
about three years ago. He was
employed by H.H. Parker Ma
chine Shop in Moultrie, was a
good worker, and held in high
esteem by those who em
ployed him. He was a member
of the Woodmen of the World.
In 1937 he married Miss Blon-
nie Ward. She survives him
along with four children;
Grady Speight, Jr., Annette,
Vivian, and William Robert
Speight, one brother, J.R.
Speight, and two sisters, Mrs.
Fred Criswell of Ashburn and
Mrs. Emory Roberts of Winter
Haven, Florida.
Billy Barker will be or
dained next Sunday. As in pre
vious years, each grade at
Eureka school gave a box of
groceries to the needed in their
school community.
The boys won a basketball
victory over Vienna 42-14, the
girls won 23-8.
1960- Does Turner County
offer a bright future for dairy
men? George Beazly, a young
dairy expert from Mansfield,
Illinois, who has moved his
family here, thinks it does. He
has confidence enough to in
vest in the former E.G. McAl
lister farm two miles west of
Ashburn on the Sylvester Road
where he is establishing his
dairy business. Beazly says the
milder climate and the lower
prices for land attracted him to
this section. He is a graduate of
the University of Illinois where
he majored in dairy science.
He married the former Faye
Heard of Bainbridge who
teaches foreign languages.
Miss Susan Perkins has
been selected to the Home
coming Court at Wesleyan
College.
1970- Harris Hobby, sec
ond from left in picture, (pic
tured with Col. John Rogers,
Mrs. Vera Hobby, and Dr.
Lamar Moree), has been
named 1970 "Man of the Year
“at the Chamber of Commerce
Annual Dinner. Mr. Hobby, 50,
a native of Turner County and
a decorated veteran of World
War II, was presented the
plaque by last year's winner,
Dr. Lamar Moree. Mr. Hobby
was credited with tireless work
for the past three years on a
number of projects including
construction of the new Wanee
Lake Country Club here.
Wayne Bridges and Jimmy
NeSmith both received Farmer
of the Year awards.
With nearly 2,500 fans on
hand, the Turner County
Rebels won the Region 1-A
South Championship with a
13-13 tie with Irwin County.
Baker’s Dozen
Tis the season
Tis the season to have your
credit card info stolen.
Mine was. Got an alert over
the weekend that someone in
Orlando tried to charge about
$10 to my card. I called the
number, verified it was not me
and had the card canceled.
In talking with other folks
who've experienced the same
thing, the bogus charges often
come from Florida. Orlando is
a popular location for some
reason.
At the bank Monday morn
ing, I met with Pam to make
the official report, file the pa
perwork and get a new card in
coming.
"You must have done shop
ping online," was the first thing
she said.
Well, yeah, I pay two bills
online, I said. I also bought a
can of Haggis off Amazon with
my card, which I didn't tell
Pam.
In case you wonder, I
bought the Haggis from Scot
land because I want to try it. I
like to sample food I've never
eaten before. Had a durian a
while back and it was good.
Not great, but good. Carly
Rene brought a friend over to
sample it too and I thought the
two of them were going to
heave their innards over the
porch when I broke the durian
open. Durian is supposed to be
one of the 5 worst-smelling
foods in the world.
But about that card. How
and where it got hacked prob
ably will never be known.
Pam looked over the recent
charges to the card. All legit.
The fraud charge apparently
was caught and stopped before
it ever went to the bank.
At the Sheriffs Department
(newspaper business), I was
told the hackers are probably
from overseas and will never
be caught.
Sigh.
Talking with Chief Bill
Ryder in Sycamore, he related
the story of how a phone call
from the islands in the
Caribbean resulted in nearly
$12,000 in bills to his cell
phone, he estimated it took 200
hours or so to get that mess
straightened out.
Whew. I know I got lucky.
Other people are no so fortu
nate. Some people wind up los
ing money to these scammers.
If you have a debit or credit
card and use it online, I have to
say it is only a matter of time
before your info is swiped.
What can you do?
Check your account fre
quently, like daily.
Sign up for fraud alerts.
Let your bank know any
time you will be out of your
regular zone. I've gone to
Canada twice and told my
bank both times when I was
leaving and when I'd get back.
I had zero issues using my card
in the Great White North.
Watch for skimmers of gas
pumps. I always grab the card
reader and pull hard. So far, I
have yet to have a skimmer
come off in my hand, but I ex
pect to get one some day.The
skimmer is put on with mild
glue or tape, so it will come
right off.
Use multi-factor identifica
tion. If you don't know what
that means, grab a teenager and
force him to explain it to you.
I did. I still don’t understand it.