It’s the sound of freedom

EDITOR,
I don’t usually respond to letters written to the paper, but the letter written by Susan Kirk titled “Silence the cannon on Memorial Day” disturbed me on so many levels that I felt compelled to respond.
Last month, Americans honored the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives in the service of our nation. We observed Memorial Day, a day of recognition that has taken place in one form or another since the Civil War. It is only fitting that we, as the recipients of their sacrifice, should honor those who died in war on that special day.
My 21-year-old son is a U.S. Marine who is on his second deployment overseas. When he is stateside, he is stationed at New River Marine Corps Air Station in Jacksonville, N.C., which is home to 14 aviation units and more than 200 aircraft. It is a common occurrence, on any given day, to hear one form of aircraft or another overhead.
It could happen during a wedding, during a movie or even during an afternoon in the garden — and when I go back to visit my son, I hear nothing but gratitude from the locals who live there.
Outside the base is a sign that reads: “Pardon our noise … it’s the sound of freedom.”
Susan, if a few, “boom booms” on Memorial Day constitutes “noise pollution” to you, rather than the sound of sacrifice and freedom, I suggest you move someplace where war and sacrifice have never existed.
Personally, I love the sound.
Kim Adams, Felton