As I write my articles for the Tribune, I get praise and sometimes some negative come-backs ,on what I stand for and what I believe in. But the thing that really gets me proud, is for them to ask me what I think about what is going on in this world. They are asking me, because they know that I speak from the heart and I speak the truth. That is really something to know that I, just another peon, can get someone to ask my thoughts. Well, here goes.

One question asked by one of my former co-workers at Continental Steel  was;  did I think that we, the workers and supervision, who were there until the end, were robbed of our rights by one of  the biggest con men that this country has ever see. Yes, we were robbed. We were not only robbed, but we were raped of our civil rights too. We not only lost our jobs, but also our full pensions, our health insurance, and our life insurance. Because of this happening to one of the best group of men that I have ever known, we lost many men who, because they  lost everything they had, they ended their own lives. All this because of one hippe, who bought into our mill by secretly buying the stock at a high price, without using his own name. This same man had his hand spanked and now lives off that money down somewhere in Florida. And they say that crime does not pay.

In the same sense, we who lost everything, were not through losing. The estate was mis-handeled by a judge, who wrote his own price tag, along with a group of international union lawyers, who wanted their share of the estate too. These lawyers were already on the payroll, but they wanted and got more. They even were the ones who decided to sell the union hall to another steel workers group, even though it belonged to the Kokomo steel workers who paid for it out of their own pockets through dues and the sweat of running it.

The reason that I write about the mill is so thst it will not be forgotten, and also to keep everyone elert to the fact that this can happen to everyone who has put their entire lives into a supposely secure position and then get the old heave ho. We must keep alive that fact that nothing is for sure if you don't take it seiously...  If you wake up one morning and find that everything has been taken away from you, how would you react to it? How would you take care of the family that looks to you for support?

Then ,to put another bad taste in my and the other workers mouths, we get a group coming in after the place went down ,and said it was not a safe place to work, because of the hazardous waste there. They said that the ground area was contaminated, and that the air was unsafe. That is pure garbage , because there were many men and women that put in many years there and they didn't die of cancer. One man had over sixty years there and he passed away of a natural death. Others had over  forty years there and they all went the natural way. My gosh, I had over thirty-one years there and I never had to wear a space suit in there. The dirt that that group had dug up, because they said that it had lead in it, was said to be soon put in the spot where the mill comes out. The small traces of lead found in those yards came from the paint that was put on those houses years ago when lead was a base for house paint. Then the group brings in a crew of their choosing that contracts to tear down the mill, and then wants to ask for another large amount of money, because they signed for too low of a price. Listen here folks, tell them to take down that mill for the original price as they agreed to or give back the money already paid to them and then ride them out on a rail. How long are we ,as the city of Kokomo, in the state of Indiana, in the United States of America, going to stand still for people and groups taking us for everything we have. If you remember the words of Krusheve, when he said that the American people would be taken down without a shot being fired, then you ought to also remember that we, as the greatest country in the world got that way, because we were not afraid to fight for our freedom. How many of our elected officials in the House and Senate, tried to keep the jobs in this country? Check out how many steelmills that are left. Check out how many big companies are moving their plants to the other countries. Do we, as the descendants of a group of men who built this country, really care about what is going on. This old man cares and it makes me sick to see it happen.

They now will have to decide what to put in the place where that great mill was, and a grant is being sought to pay another group to come in and decide what would be the best thing to build there. Why do we need another outside group to come in and tell us what is good for us?There are many things that the ground could be used for, but I and many others would like for this city and the people who run it to just let someone build a memorial to all the workers and supervisors who worked there. It wouldn't have to be a big one, maybe a fifty foot section, about where the main gate was. As a matter of fact, the gate is in the possesion of the city and it would be a great part of that memorial. If you ask why there should be a memorial, than you should think back to all the factories that are no more here in Kokomo, and where they were located. Most will not remember, and that is why we think  that one for Continental Steel Corporation is needed. A landmark of what was the backbone of this great city, so that our youngsters will know where we worked. Not much being asked by those who were cheated out of their place in the sun.

Now getting away from that , we come to another question asked me by one of the readers. He wanted to know what I thought about the decision made by our top officials to cut down on spending by disbanding most of our military forces. Well here goes on that; In the first place we aren't saving any money , because they are sending that money overseas to the other countries. They are trying to buy peace, and you know that most of that money that is sent away never gets to the people who really need it. What it is used for is to purchase arms by those who will turn those arms against us. And what better situation than what they did to the military. Weaken your resistance, and wait for them to take us over. We should of never cut down on military spending as much as they did. That really makes me mad. How did our people in Washington vote on that?  I am all for helping others, but we should help our own first.

And yet another reader asked what I thought of the crime situation in the whole world? Well, you can't fight crime by just a spanking. There needs to be some drastic changes made in the way that we go about getting convictions. Don't let the criminal plead insanity, or let him or her rat on another, just to get a lessor sentence. Let's go back to the good old days ,when if you did wrong, you paid for it. Lets put stiffer penalities on those who would kill. Send them away for life or death. That life that was taken, was as precious as that one who lived. And to keep on that subject, let's stop allowing  kids to be able to have their parents arrested for disciplining him or her. We have let this child abuse go too far ,and now if you or I were to be said to have abused a child ,and was found innocent of that crime, we still would carry that stigma of a child beater. That really is not fair to anyone.

And yet another question that is asked of me is; why do I write my articles for a local paper instead of trying to go nation-wide. Well the main reason I write, is because I enjoy doing it. And through my thoughts, I just might reach someone who needs to hear what I say. There are those out there, that need  to hear that someone cares, and my gosh I do care. If  I alone, though my writings ,can reach one child enough to turn him or her away from drugs, crime, or dis-respect of their elders, then I have done well. What I write is what I believe, and it comes from the heart. As far as my opinions are concerned, they are mine and not those of the paper that prints it. Evidently I must be reaching a lot of the readers as my mail and my phone is full of the praises, and I sure am proud of that. As long as the Kokomo Tribune allows me to express myself in a way that it helps others , then I will comntinue to write. As always, this came straight from the heart.

Ray "Uncle Ray" Day