Wednesday, March 27, 2002
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Wednesday, March 27, 2002 |
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Wellman: After 9-11, nation came before city Since becoming involved in local affairs I have made it a policy not to reply to any of the attacks on me in the paper. But, last week's letter from Bill Webster cannot be ignored. I have been called a lot of things, but I will not be called a liar or coward. The only explanation I can come up with for last week's letter is that Mr. Webster is clueless. There is no other reason for his attempt to portray me as using 9-11 as an alibi to back out of the mayor's race for fear of losing to Steve Brown. I never thought for a moment I would lose to Steve. To be honest I was more worried about the street fighter tactics of Dan Lakly than Steve and his ludicrous waving on Ga. Highway 74 every day. It is obvious that Mr. Webster knows nothing about military service, so I will fill in the facts. I graduated West Point and spent 13 years on active duty, and when I resigned, I joined the Reserve unit supporting the FORSCOM Headquarters at Ft. McPherson. At 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 11, I was called by my unit and asked to report for duty the next night. By Thursday morning I had already heard we were being mobilized on the very first set of orders coming out of the Pentagon and I was being designated as a liaison officer to U.S. Central Command in Tampa. Sure enough we were fully mobilized on Sept. 28. By law, an officer of the military cannot serve in an elected political position. If I had already been mayor, I could have been excused from my duty, but as a candidate I had no protections to avoid being mobilized. Besides, as a career soldier, I would not have sought them if there were any. I felt then, as I do now, that my place was in uniform when my country is at war. I decided not to qualify for the election in hopes that some other candidate would jump in before qualifying closed. Gary Rower did and put on a valiant effort against insurmountable odds to catch up to Steve Brown who had been raising funds and re-creating his image for four months already. I am proud to serve my nation. I am a veteran of the Gulf War, an Army Ranger and a patriotic American. I left the race because beyond the little stupid world that has become Peachtree City politics, there is a war going on that will determine the fate of our nation. It seems that some folks don't know this. But I do, and although my part of the effort is a small one, I am proud to stand by the 80,000 other Reserve and National Guard service members who have been called to duty since 9-11. The most ironic thing about Bill Webster lying about me is that he is Dan Tennant's representative on the Ethics Commission. Yes, the same guy who soaked Mrs. Lenox in the July 4th parade with a squirt gun; who smeared a poor high school kid because she dared write a critical letter to the paper; who pathetically tried to bring the School Board up on ethics charges; who tried to label me "Wishy-washy" because I called for a change in the tone in Peachtree City is your representative to judge the behavior of our elected officials. That is Peachtree City politics for you today. One of the most notorious residents of our city is appointed to a position of honor in our city government. Pathetic, isn't it? He was right about one thing, though. You do need to go to City Council meetings for yourself to believe how stupid they think you are. Fred Wellman Peachtree City WellmanPTC@aol.com
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