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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Opinions
Pulling American troops out of Afghanistan
BY ELLIOTT BRACK
Gwinnett Forum
A bout our Ameri
can troops in
Afghanistan,
President Biden cannot
pull our troops out of
there fast enough for
me. Our country should
have never been de
ployed sending Ameri
can troops to that part
of the world.
The British fought
there first, and realized
their mistake, and left in
1842. Russians came next
fighting what is probably
the same people we were
trying to destroy. This
war for Russia began
in December 1979, and
lasted until February
1989. About 15,000 So
viet soldiers were killed,
and about 35,000 were
wounded.
After nine years of the
battle, Russia recognized
such a victory was impos
sible. And that was from
a country that is bumped
up right against Afghani
stan, and had relatively
short supply lines.
Contrast the Russian
position with the Ameri
can position: we had
to provide our nation’s
finest with supplies and
equipment they needed
from half a world distant.
Such an endeavor was
doomed from the start,
and it’s taken 20 years
and finally the fourth
president (after Bush,
Obama and Trump), Joe
Biden is willing to risk his
political and our nation’s
future on bringing home
our troops.
Hurrah for the so-
called Sleepy Joe Biden.
Some have even called
him “Biden the divider,”
but no tell
ing how many
moms and
pops, especially
of our troops
actually de
ployed there
now, or before,
may think of
him as “Joe the
hero.”
THE TIMELINE:
Oct. 7,
2001: President George
W. Bush said that U.S.
and British troops began
striking Afghanistan for
“harboring the al-Qaeda
terrorists” blamed for the
9/11 attacks.
December
2003: American troops
now number 13,100 in
the country.
December
2007: Americans in
Afghanistan now num
ber 25,000. By 2009, it is
67,000. Presi
dent Obama
plans to send
in another
33,000 Ameri
cans.
May
2011: Osama
Bin Laden is
found hiding
in neighbor
ing Pakistan
and is killed.
There are
still 100,000 U.S. troops
in the country.
September 2012:
Troop withdrawals
means the number is
down to 77,000 U.S. men
in a slow withdrawal.
March 2014: American
troops down to 34,000,
and by December Obama
cuts the forces to 16,100.
July 2016: Instead of
dropping the American
troops level to 5,500,
Obama says it will be
8,400 by the end of his
term in January, 2017.
August 2017: Presi
dent Trump says more
forces will be deployed,
to about the 14,000 level.
September 2019: A
total of 5,500 U.S. troops
will be withdrawn within
135 days. Later that
month, President Trump
says a planned high-level
meeting with the enemy
camp has been can
celled.
All totaled, the Pen
tagon shows that more
than 775,000 U.S. service
members were deployed
to Afghanistan at least
once.
Killed in Afghanistan
were 2,400 Americans,
with 20,660 injured, and
no telling how many
with mind-wobbling
nightmares. Add that the
cost so far of fighting in
Afghanistan is over $2
trillion. (Source: Depart
ment of Defense.) Those
who did not come home
are from all states, with
California the home state
of 755 troops killed. Geor
gia lost 220 of its people
to death in Afghanistan.
The announcement
this week from Joe Biden
will be greeted with relief
by most Americans, who
just didn’t feel comfort
able fighting a war for
others.
As a proud military
veteran myself (seven
years, 3.5 in Germany)
during the Cold War, 1 am
relieved that the loved
ones of Army, Navy, Air
Force and Marines per
sonnel will come home
from being deployed in
this unwinnable fight in
Afghanistan.
Thank you, Mr. Presi
dent.
ELLIOT BRACK
SCTC builds strong students,
careers and communities
despite setbacks from pandemic
Reflecting back, it
is certain that this past
year has been one un
like any other we have
experienced in our life
time. Southern Crescent
Technical College has
continuously embraced
change and stayed
committed to our core
values and our mission
of workforce develop
ment.
We have proudly
upheld our commit
ment to building strong
communities by provid
ing our citizens with
the necessary skills and
knowledge to enter the
workforce while assist
ing them as they pursue
their educational,
career, and personal
goals.
Even with the pan
demic, SCTC has again
experienced another
banner year. Enrollment
in Academic Year 2020
was 7,647, up 7.1% com
pared to the previous
year and our retention
rate for students was at
72.8%. Our enrollment
remains strong as the
sixth largest technical
college. We also gradu
ated 2,301 students
making us the third
largest producer of
graduates in the Techni
cal College System of
Georgia.
With the support of
faculty and staff during
our internal campaign,
we raised $37,947 for
scholarships. Moreover,
the SCTC Foundation
raised $480,439 to sup
port our students and
programs. With this
generous support we
were able to award 130
scholarships to deserv
ing students.
As in previous years
the college continued
to provide cutting-edge
programs that meet the
workforce demands
of local business and
industry partners.
True to our workforce
development mission
the job placement rate
for Academic Year 2020
rose slightly to 99% and
the in-field placement
rate rose to 88.2%, an
increase of 0.6% over
last year.
Responding quickly
to the demand for
healthcare workers, we
expanded the Reg
istered Nursing pro
gram at the Flint River
Campus with help from
Upson Regional Medical
Center and other com
munity partners and
donors.
1 am extremely proud
of the way our faculty,
staff, and students re
sponded to the many
changes brought on by
the pandemic. Our in
structors and students
quickly transitioned to
virtual learning plat
forms and staff adjusted
our delivery methods
to best accommodate
our students. SCTC not
only adapted to the
challenges with which
we were faced but also
responded with great
poise and compassion.
Through it all, our
students continued to
excel both in and out of
the classroom.
1 consider it an honor
and a privilege to serve
alongside the SCTC
community.
ALVETTA PETERMAN THOMAS,
SCTC PRESIDENT
Best things to see may be close to home, folks
KAY S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
Every now and then,
Bob and 1 take a notion
to go someplace or see
some
thing we
have yet
to expe
rience.
Macon,
Georgia,
is not
a place
with which we are not
familiar, nor is it a place
most people think of go
ing “on vacation;” but we
just got back from three
really fine days in our
neighboring Big City to
the South.
Macon is a strangely
eclectic city. There are
huge churches down
town which appear to
be trying to out-steeple
each other. Two historic
cemeteries include the
kind of statuary and brick
boundary fencing that
one does not see much
anymore; most cemeter
ies now feature few if any
fascinating sculptures or
grave markers that are
“hard to mow around.”
At Rose Hill, the fascina
tion is endless - but we
mostly wanted to visit
the gravesites of The All-
man Brothers, Duane and
Gregg. Also buried in the
high-fenced plot is Berry
Oakley, one member of
that famous band and
Butch Trucks.
Having been Allman
fans as long as we can
remember, we also had
never visited The Big
House, where the family
and some band members
lived. It’s now a museum
of extensive artifacts
from a custom-padded
amp to cancelled pay-
checks, publicity photos
to fantastic palette-knife
type paintings of the
band and some individual
members. We spent too
much money on stuff for
our children, who also
are fans.
Back to Macon itself:
we found nothing that
made us unhappy - not
even the extensive road
construction going on -
except the city’s parking-
meter system. After six
or seven unsuccessful
tries at paying the fee
with a credit card on
Poplar Street, a woman
with the right number
of quarters came to the
rescue. If a city wants to
charge for its space, for
the very good reason of
keeping people rotating
through town, then it
should invest enough in
the technology to make
it work accurately all the
time and according to
directions.
Macon has an abun
dance of beautiful houses
and buildings, some right
alongside crumbling and
moldy old structures.
One can see there is
major effort going on in
safe, attractive and useful
beautification, but it’s
enough to give a zoning
expert nightmares. The
city’s charm is certainly
found in its support of
music and the arts, given
the rather large number
of famous musicians
associated with Macon
- Otis Redding for one,
and guess what - one of
the medical buildings
is named for Richard
Penniman, better known
as Little Richard. It goes
against my heart that the
“powers who were” killed
the Georgia Music Hall of
Fame, giving it to Ath
ens, and left the sports
museum.
We stayed in a won
derful hotel near the
Coliseum complex. My
husband’s amazing ability
to navigate kept us going
in the right direction
most of the time, and just
the Big House would have
been worth the trip - but
we also did the Museum
of Arts and Sciences and
its Planetarium. Next time
we’ll go to the Tubman
Museum and Hay House,
two on our list that we
just ran out of time to do.
Coincidentally, we
have discovered that
our offspring are irrevo
cably connected to the
Allman Brothers Band.
That band formed on the
day our daughter was
born in March of 1969;
Duane died in October
1971 within a week of the
birth of our first son. Vic
says he remembers be
ing attracted to the “Eat
a Peach” and “Fillmore
East” album photos and
drawings when he was
only two years old.
Visit Macon for some
thing you’ve never seen
or done - I’ll bet they
have it there. And the
food is outstanding!
Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some
50 years writing for newspapers.
She is active in the Lamar County
community and currently serves as
the president of Lamar Arts. She
lives in Milner with her husband Bob
Pedrotti.
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P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Moiena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
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Inc. Second class
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Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
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Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
GUN CONTROL FEARS mWtSOUl FOLKS TO CREAtE HOME ARSENALS.
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
April 22,1921: Zebulon High School was placed
on the Georgia list of accredited schools allowing se
niors admission to any state college without exami
nation. Next the school would seek Southern List
status to open access to any U.S. college for seniors.
75 YEARS AGO
April 25, 1946: W.E. Girtman of Zebulon called
a meeting of all Pike County veterans to be held
Thursday, May 2, at the courthouse for the pur
pose of organizing an American Legion Post 197.
Veterans joining within the next three months
would be classified as charter members.
50 YEARS AGO
April 22,1971: Flint River Academy students
won honors at a literary meet in Forsyth. A girls’ trio
placing first had Triffy Hendrix, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. J. Astor Riggins; a boys’ quartet placing first
had Mike Oxford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Grady Oxford,
and Walter Logan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Logan.
25 YEARS AGO
April 24,1996: Building contractor Kenneth
Stephens defended the county commissioners’ ap
proval of his zoning change request to build eight du
plexes near Williamson. Stephens cited a precedent
as other duplexes and rental properties were nearby.