East Penn Press and Salisbury Press Editor Debbie Galbraith’s comparison of the media coverage of the deaths of several well-known celebrities during 2016 to lack of media coverage of the deaths of U.S. servicemen and women is no more than a thinly veiled attempt to prey on the emotions of Press readers regarding President-Elect Donald Trump’s plan to strengthen America’s military.

My fellow editor’s listing of the names of dead American servicemen in her Editor’s View reminds me of a technique used in April 2004 by “Nightline” host Ted Koppel, who read the names of 721 U.S. servicemen and women killed in the Iraq War.

At the time, one media group refused to air the program, saying it had an “anti-war slant.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which at the time owned 62 TV stations, and now has 154, said it would not air “Nightline” on its ABC stations in Charleston, W.Va., Columbus, Ohio, and St. Louis, Mo.

In a statement released at the time, Sinclair said the program “appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.”

Sinclair called the “Nightline” broadcast a political statement “disguised as news content.”

I say Galbraith’s Editor’s View is a political statement disguised as “worry” for our nation’s brave men and women who have volunteered to serve their country and, yes, if necessary, lay down their lives to preserve our freedoms.

Over the last several years, while the world was becoming more dangerous, the American military was being weakened.

According to Fox News, the first week of this month saw no American aircraft carriers deployed at sea anywhere in the world for the first time since World War II.

If it is not enough that the Western world is being attacked by ISIS, we have North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un threatening the United States with intercontinental ballistic missiles; Vladimir Putin flexing Russia’s muscles toward reunification of Soviet republics and the glory days of the Soviet Union; and Iran’s developing nuclear program.

Just on Monday, the USS Mahan had to fire warning shots at Iranian patrol boats when they challenged our guided missile destroyer in the Strait of Hormuz.

Stealing a phrase from Galbraith that she is “glued to the television as we reflect on the celebrities and well-known personalities who have died during the year,” I say she should be “glued to the television” learning about the threats looming against Western civilization and our way of life.

A strong American military sends a message to evil-doers worldwide to not “mess” with the U.S.

Just as with the “mutually assured destruction” deterrent to using nuclear weapons, strength is the way to avoid the loss of our young men and women in war.

Deb Palmieri

editor

Parkland Press

Northwestern Press