Please support my Scout project to honor veterans

My name is Ben Hulett. I am working on my Eagle Project. My project is to place medallions on the grave stones of 300-plus veterans in Shaftsbury to honor them for past service. I am working with the Shaftsbury Veterans Committee to do this.

These medallions will replace the brass markers and flag holders that could be stolen, as well as the plastic ones that break down due to UV rays from the sun. Once this project is complete, the medallions will clearly mark that the person is a U.S. veteran. This will make it easier for the Veterans Committee to place flags on Veterans Day, especially for veterans whose stones may be illegible.

The materials needed to complete the project are approximately 300 medallions at $12 each, plus the cost of the epoxy to attach them to the gravestones. The total project cost is estimated to be around $4,500.

In order to raise the money, I am planning to do a bottle drive in the Cleveland Avenue area of Shaftsbury on Sept. 8 from 8 until noon.

If you would like to drop off bottles, we will have a vehicle at Shaftsbury Elementary. I am also planning a bottle drive in the Upper Main and Harvest Hills area of Shaftsbury on Sept. 22 from 8 until noon.

If you would prefer to drop off bottles, we will have a vehicle at the North Bennington Depot.

If you would like to donate and you live elsewhere, you can drop off bottles at Willie's Variety under the name Ben Hulett.

BENJAMIN HULETT

Life Scout Troop 353

Shaftsbury It's not the Muslims and socialists who frighten me

Why is it that right-wing Republicans always have to have a bogeyman in the bushes. Obama is a socialist! No, he's a communist! No, no he's a Muslim!

Since they can't find anything unpleasant about our president, they have to make things up. Let's scare people. When will they get out of the 1950s and forget about the "communist threat?" I'm more frightened about the threat of the ultra-right wing. I'm afraid what they have in store for the women of this country.

The Muslim religion is not our enemy. There are fanatics in every religion. I had a Muslim exchange student live with me for an entire school year. This young man and I had many conversations about our respective cultures. I became friends with his mother in Egypt. She had the same concerns about her children as I had for mine. We were amazed at the many similarities in our religions.

Read the Koran. You'll find Jesus and Moses in there. I'm not afraid of Muslims; I'm more frightened of the Republican Party that is attempting to suppress the vote in Pennsylvania, Florida and Minnesota and turn us into a Third World banana republic.

And as far as Socialism: We already have socialist programs in this country and it's working pretty well. Social Security and Medicare. I'm more frightened of Paul Ryan and his ultra-conservative brethren who want to privatize my Medicare and Social Security so that there is more money in the pot for the 1 percent.

So I say to the rabid right: "Get over it." Obama is a decent man who is trying his best to put a country back together after a terrible economic crash. A man who has had to fight not only the opposition party which refused to give him any help but also the bigotry and racism of many people in this country who disguise it by yelling "communist," "Muslim," "socialist."

ROCHELLE DUBOFF

Bennington