I asked Harry Sanders, president of the board of supervisors, to help me get a road named for the veterans. He said it would be too much for 911 to change all the addresses, and we would need to wait till the county put in a new road. Then he said for me to talk to John Holliman, because he builds subdivisions, and to get him to name a street for the veterans. I thought that would be an insult to the veterans of our country,
I then called Sen. Terry Brown and asked if he would help. He said he would be glad to help and would start working on it when he got back to Jackson on Monday. He told me he is not a veteran but his father is and said that no one had ever asked him to get anything named for the veterans. I then talked to Rep. Gary Chism and he said he would be glad to help. I then went to see Mayor Robert Smith and he said he would be glad to help any way he could and that he would bring it up to the city council.
When I knew it was approved, I called Sen. Brown and asked if it would be all right with him if I got the VFW and the American Legion to get their bike teams to ride the bypass the day of the dedication. He said we could have anything we wanted, that it was fine with him. So I started talking to some of the veterans about riding the bypass and they said they”d like to take part in it. I had not talked to the American Legion or the VFW about riding the bypass on the day of the dedication. I was waiting on Sen. Brown to let me know when it would be, but I found out when it was when I read it in the paper. That was a day after the dedication.
I know that Sen. Brown will try to prove me wrong. He had one of his buddies call me the same night that I asked Sen. Brown why he did not let me know about the dedication. His buddy from the American Legion tried to take the blame for not letting me know.
They could not let me know because he did not let anybody know that I was the one that asked him to help get it approved. Sen. Brown wanted to get all the glory for his next run for office. But the Lord and I know the truth, and so does Sen. Terry Brown.
Jim Westberry, Caledonia
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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