Expectations of President-elect Barack Obama’s administration differ greatly among Valley veterans.
Even friends like Harold Aucker and John W. Nace disagree on how Obama will perform as U.S. commander-in-chief when he takes office in January.
“I think he’ll be a good leader,” said Aucker, an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam and is the quartermaster and club manager of VFW Post 6631 in Selinsgrove.
“I don’t think much of him,” said Nace, an Air Force veteran who served between 1950 and 1981. “I’m a die-hard conservative. I’ve seen the Democrats start the Korean War and not finish it. The Democrats started the war in Vietnam and didn’t finish it. I have no faith in the Democrats.”
Aucker said the next administration will do what’s right, and remove the U.S. military from Iraq only once the work there is done.
“The world crisis won’t be settled the day Obama takes office,” Aucker said. “It’ll be a year to 18 months before we’ll see any changes, but we can not up and pull out and lose face throughout the world.”
Selinsgrove-area resident Bill Shirk is also an Obama supporter, but expects the new president to act quickly and bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.
It will be nearly six years since the war in Iraq began when Obama is sworn in as the 44th president Jan. 20.
Shirk, who along with his wife, Trish, served in the Air Force in the early 1980s, voted for the Illinois senator in the hope that he will reverse the “poor military choices” of the Bush administration.
An Obama administration “will be better because he’s willing to use diplomacy and intelligence not fire power and violence,” Shirk said.
Nace and Shirk agree that the military is under-manned and the National Guard and Reserve are being deployed too often, but Nace has little confidence in the Democratic Party’s willingness to bolster the troops, keep terrorists at bay and protect America’s borders.
“Everybody is critical of Obama and he hasn’t made one decision yet,” Shirk said.
Aucker said he’d like to see Secretary of Defense Robert Gates remain in the position for one to two more years, “to maintain continuity” as the United States faces its next threat, Iran.
“I don’t think Russia or North Korea will be openly aggressive,” he said.
The people who talk about the likelihood of Obama having to face down a threat to the country early in his presidency are the same people who make “veiled racist comments,” Shirk said.
“The threat from Russia is long gone, and in the Middle East we’ve been quick to use a gun and slow to use diplomacy,” he said, “but the threat we face is the one we’re not looking at — China. Not that I see China as a threat, or want to, but militarily they are catching up.”
Whatever happens in the next few years under Obama’s leadership, Aucker is cautiously optimistic.
“He can’t be any worse than Bush,” he said.
-- E-mail comments to mmoore@dailyitem.com
News
Related Photos
-
Matthew Harris/The Daily Item
Discussion
Valley veterans clash on Obama, Dems
- News
-
-
Lewisburg schools face cuts in personnel, programs
Superintendent Mark DiRocco told the Lewisburg school board Thursday night that a proposed block grant system of school budget funding will run the district short of cash that will have to be made up through personnel and program cuts.
-
Mom: Keller's response left her cold
Like many people, Elise Nicol is concerned about Marcellus Shale and the industry's effects on Pennsylvania's environment. The Lewisburg mother of two cares about it enough that she sent an email to state Rep. Fred Keller, R-85 of Kreamer, asking him to oppose House Bill 1950, which passed the General Assembly on Wednesday.
-
Point Township authority concerned by sewer plant violations
Point Township Sewer Authority members Thursday night expressed concerns about a Feb. 3 letter sent to the Northumberland Sewer Authority by the state's Department of Environmental Protection saying that the borough authority has violated the Clean Streams Act.
-
Persing truck fee idea stalls
While Pennsylvania has passed legislation allowing communities to collect impact fees in 35 counties, Northumberland County is not one of them, and business leaders and lawmakers do not think Sunbury Mayor David Persing's plan to try to do his own version of an impact fee will pass muster.
-
Barber draws a crowd
The talk can be spirited at times, ranging from hunting to sports to home repairs. "You hear all kinds of stories," Gene Koehler, of Riverside, said Thursday as he waited for a haircut at The Masters barbershop, 209 Mill St.
-
State board approves table games at Valley Forge casino
VALLEY FORGE — A casino resort scheduled to open this spring in the Philadelphia suburb of Valley Forge has been approved for table games.
-
Doctors telling more adults: Get out and exercise
ATLANTA — A new study shows more and more U.S. adults are being told by their doctor to get off their duffs and exercise. A government survey found nearly 33 percent of adults who saw a doctor in the previous year said they were told to exercise. That was up from about 23 percent in 2000.
-
Former Northumberland County judge and three others die in Florida crash
EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. -- A former Northumberland County judge was one of four people killed Wednesday afternoon when their car collided with a van at an intersection, according to the Naples News. The victims were identified as James J. Rosini, 66, William J. Rosini, 68, Patricia C. Rosini, 65, all of Coal Township, Pa., and Deborah A. Korbich, 59, of Elysburg, Pa.
-
Warden demotes four bosses
SUNBURY -- Northumberland County Prison Warden Roy Johnson was able to trim about $135,000 in expenses by demoting four supervisors. He said Wednesday that he found a way to cut costs without laying off any staff. "I cut out 120 hours of supervisors' pay each week, but I need to fill the correction officer positions," Johnson said.
-
DJ pumps up audience
Every Tuesday evening, Richard Grogg can be found spinning tunes at possibly the most well-attended dance in Snyder County. A resident at the Selinsgrove Center since 1988, the 57-year-old said the thing he likes most about selecting and playing music is "making people happy." "Some people come up and ask for requests," he said.
-
Agency closes adult center
PENNS CREEK -- Union and Snyder County caregivers have had to look farther and wider for another program that can offer respite because the Agency on Aging can no longer afford to provide the service. The adult daily living center at the Penns Creek Adult Resource Center was a helpful program each week to about eight adults from the area dealing with Alzheimer's and dementia. But it closed Dec. 30.
-
New Berlin pushes to acquire school
NEW BERLIN -- The Borough Council sold the property where the New Berlin Elementary School is to the precursor of the Mifflinburg Area School District for $1 back in 1950. It was deeded to the district for construction of a school.
- More News Headlines
-
Lewisburg schools face cuts in personnel, programs
