To The Editor:

More than 48 million men and women have served in our Armed Forces from our War for Independence to the conflict in which we are now engaged. Twenty-five million veterans are alive today. Many stood watch on foreign battlements or patrolled distant shores and skies. Many more protected AMerica here at home.

Today, we honor all of them for their service in peacetime and in war. The courage of America’s veterans, passed down across generations, makes it possible for us today to build a globe-spanning coalition to challenge and bring to justice the alchemists of evil.

The 219,000 men and women of the Department of Veteran Affairs, working in more than 1,400 medical centers, regional offices, clinics, and support facilities across the country, stand tall today in service to America’s heroes. We recognize and treasure all who have certified their citizenship on the far-flung fields of combat or in the ever-watchful duties of homeland defense. In peacetime and in war, America’s soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and Coastguardsmen hold fast to the principles our founders burnished on the soul of a new nation 225 years ago.

On this special Veterans Day, let us then remember and honor the heroes who have served the colors of our country. For the living, we will redeem Abraham Lincoln’s promise in 1865 "to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans" and redouble our effort son their behalf. And for those who have met Heaven’s price for our national good, we will honor their memories by continuing to uphold the principles for which they died.

Anthony J. Principi

Secretary

United States Department of Veterans Affairs

Lauds Toscano

To The Editor:

Approximately one year ago we had the pleasure of meeting a member of the staff of the Queens Gazette, Mr. John Toscano, during a trip to Sicily. As we mentioned to him at the time, my wife and I would not be content could we not read Mr. Toscano’s columns each week in your newspaper.

The Gazette should be proud to have such a fine and talented journalist on its staff.

We offer our congratulations to him on his continually outstanding work and to you on your fine publication.

Yours Sincerely,

C.A. Verdon

Serge and Theresa Enni

Jackson Heights

Launch Driver Web Site

To The Editor:

Federal government statistics show that the number of drunk driving deaths nationwide has decreased by more than a third since 1982, and by 62 percent in New York state. A recent nationwide poll shows that more than nine out of 10 American adults believe designated drivers have been a factor in these declines.

We at Anheuser-Busch Sales & Service of New York, Inc., distributor of Anheuser-Busch products for Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, want to thank those who have used or been designated drivers. Not only they helped save lives, they’ve shown that they care about their community.

One way in which we are saying thank you is by offering a new and exciting web site, www.designateddriver.com, where adults can learn more about designated driver programs, win valuable prizes, and send an electronic thank you card to their favorite designated driver.

Both nationally and here in New York, we have worked hard to fight alcohol abuse, especially underage drinking and drunk driving, as well as to promote legal and responsible drinking by those who choose to drink.

During the upcoming holiday season, it’s important to remember our loved ones and do all we can to keep our roads safe.

Sincerely,

C.A. Verdon

Consumer Awareness & Education

Coordinator

Anheuser-Busch Sales & Service

of New York, Inc.

Here’s Why Give

To The Editor:

I sincerely hope that Catherine Bartelomeo’s ideas about Afghanistan (Why Give? Letters, Nov. 14) are not shared by many other Astoria residents. The American flags, that so many of us have been proudly flying since September 11th, stand for Justice, Equality, Freedom of Speech and, I hope, Compassion.

The Afghan people did not destroy the World Trade Center. That terrible deed was masterminded by a Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden. None of the terrorists who carried out the attack were Afghans. In fact, the Afghan people were suffering and dying under the Taliban regime--the principal supporters of Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization Al Qaeda--for years before September 11, 2001. Before that they suffered under an anarchy of murderous, competing war lords--before that they suffered under the Soviet Union--and before that--under the British

It’s true that Al Qaeda tries to indoctrinate Afghans and other Muslims with the idea that all of their suffering is the result of actions by rich, imperialist western nations. And no doubt they convinced many Afghans. But now that our armed forces have Al Qaeda and the Taliban on the run, it is essential that we follow up with generous material aid for the Afghan people, if only to show them that we are there to help them as well as ourselves. At the same time, we will demonstrate to them the basic human principles that our flag represents.

If we back out now, and leave Afghanistan in a worse state than it was before September 11th, we can sure that it will soon be used by other fanatics as a breeding ground for terrorism.

Why give? To help stop terrorism, that’s why.

Sincerely,

John Reason

Astoria

Investigate Board Of Ed

To The Editor:

In the 1950s the Board of Education had about 500 clerks on their payroll, and without the use of photostat machines or computers they accomplished their work by the utilization of forms, in triplicate, with carbon paper.

Why do we need 1,300 clerks at 110 Livingston Street, [Brooklyn] when we only require 300?

When Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wrote them a check for $14 billion, the Board of Education was not required under law to exhibit account ledgers, and if this is Dutch or British law, isn’t it about time we either dissolve the board or update the law to 2001 and make their books accountable to the mayor and Speaker of the City Council?

[In] my opinion, when it was announced a couple of months ago that an employee for the Board of Education in the capacity of dispensing payment checks to contractors [made] an overpayment of $3 billion, why wasn’t a district attorney investigation requested?

Sincerely,

Athan John Christodoulou

Chairman: U.S. 2000 Census Hellenic Steering Committee of N.Y. State and Vice President of the Hellenic Cultural Academy of Long Island