Clarifying items

on Pearl Harbor

Editor, OBSERVER:

Dr. Robert Heichberger’s excellent account (Dec. 2) recalling the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor contained a few items that warrant clarification. First, the Japanese carrier fleet was just 220 miles north of Oahu, not the amount stated; none of the Japanese aircraft at that time had that great a range.

While the two waves of attacks on Pearl did have a devastating effect on the fleet anchored there, the Japanese command had actually planned a third attack to destroy our enormous on-shore fuel and munitions stores and our dry-dock facilities.

It was our good fortune that they chose to cancel that third wave and retreat before they were detected. Admiral Chester William Nimitz suggested that had the Japanese destroyed those facilities and stores, the Pacific war would have been prolonged by another two or more years.

KEVIN A. FOX,

Fredonia

Many here

are proud Hillbillies

Editor, OBSERVER:

I posted the recent story about the recent Hillbilly mascot article on my Facebook timeline with disbelief that parents would be so ignorant as to present this to the Fredonia Central School Board of Education.

Was this legitimate enough to be newsworthy?

My sister had probably the most educated response in that she stated the parents should not only teach their second-grader the history of the Fredonia mascot, but they should instead challenge the Google definition of the term “hillbilly.” Destroy the stereotyped definition, not the history!

It is also a lesson of teaching your child to be proud of who they are, no matter what.

RACHAEL CUNNINGHAM,

Westfield