Tag: military

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Kevin Wondrash

Knights of Columbus support program for homeless veterans

PINE BLUFF — Jeff Heller, grand knight of Knights of Columbus Three Hearts Council of St. Mary Parish in Pine Bluff, recently presented a check for $340 to Monica Quinones, Madison volunteer with Military Outreach USA, to support the Military Outreach USA program for helping homeless veterans.

This program provides a move-in kit of new household supplies for the kitchen, bathroom, and other essentials for veterans who have qualified for a housing voucher, have a job, and are exiting homelessness.

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Jane Tarrell

Pro-lifers fight for unborn and all human life

To the editor:

For all you pro-lifers out there, I have to empathize with your plight in the struggle for respect and gratitude for the time and energy you have devoted to the fight for the unborn AND anyone at any other stage of human life.

We’ve been ignored by churches and ministers who refused to acknowledge our efforts for 40+ years. Tony Magliano has spelled it out for us. We’re war mongers!

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Kevin Wondrash

Experiences serving in Afghanistan

Recently, area priests, Religious, and catechetical leaders joined with members of the Janesville Serra Club for their annual Celebration of Vocations luncheon.

Invited to speak at this year’s gathering was Msgr. Donald J. Heiar, Jr., pastor of St. John Vianney Catholic Parish in Janesville. Having recently returned from his second deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Monsignor Heiar spoke about his experience as a military chaplain with the 115th Fighter Wing of the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

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Fr. Donald Lange

Making America truly beautiful

Seeing with Jesus' Eyes, by Fr. Don Lange

One of America’s greatest blessings is the Declaration of Independence. Its preamble reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

For years, America failed to live up to some of the noble principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence. One of these failures was tolerating legalized slavery. In 1865 the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery as a legal institution. But after slavery was abolished, many former slaves were denied some of their God-given rights in other ways.

For years women were also denied the right to vote. In August of 1920, 144 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.

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James Tumpach

Cannot justify ending war by targeting non-combatants

To the editor:

In response to Don Skarda’s article, “Dropping bombs was seen as necessary” (Catholic Herald, September 16, 2010), I think it is important to point out other elements that ought to be examined in an argument for or against military actions.

Sometimes, with regard to the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, two arguments seem to arise. One is the argument that American lives were saved. The second argument is the one posited by Mr. Skarda in his article. It usually begins with the equivalent of “they started it.”

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Kat Wagner, Catholic Herald staff

Fr. Jason Hesseling reports on his experience as Army chaplain in Afghanistan

MADISON — The day Fr. Jason Hesseling, United States Army Chaplain, left Alaska for his posting in Afghanistan, he prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and read the passage: “When O Lord, will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God!”

“Kind of funny to read that on that day,” he wrote in his newsletter to friends back home. “Not sure I would term my time in Alaska as a pilgrimage, and I certainly wouldn’t say that Afghanistan is the presence of God. But it did kind of put a good spin on the flight and the next 12 months of my life.”

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