Thank you to The Island News
I am the survivor of an outstanding soldier and wonderful husband who passed away in 2017 from Agent Orange exposure from his tours in Vietnam. I had a local VSO here in Phoenix, Ariz., help me file claims for my VA survivor benefits, but the VSO and the VA lost my claims four times!
Luckily for my late husband and me, we served in the Army with your columnist, Larry Dandridge, and we read your fine newspapers’ weekly columns on Veterans’ Benefits. Totally frustrated with the VA and our past VSOs’ help, I called Larry and asked for his help. He quickly recommended me to our state Department of Veterans Affairs Office and our County VSO and told me to keep paper and digitized originals and copies of my claims and all evidence. He also sent me past articles on survivors’ benefits and encouraged me not to give up.
Recently, my claims have been approved, and I am so relieved and happy.
I cannot thank The Island News team, especially Larry, for helping me to quickly sort out the complex VA and state systems that veterans and their survivors have to navigate.
— Janet Long, Phoenix, Ariz.
We’ve avoided confronting history for too long
Regarding “Using anger to motivate revisionists” by Scott Graber in The Island News, published on April 30, 2025:
We agree with Mr. Graber that executive orders that ban honest engagement with our history are inappropriate, however we take great exception to his characterization that the Legacy Museum takes “ideological license” with its content. He cites the holograms that present narratives of enslaved people in the front of the museum as “theater” without appreciating that what is heard in this section are actual narratives written by enslaved people in the 19th century.
The content is not fictional or made up. The presentation of sculptures at what appears to be the bottom of the ocean is not some effort to manipulate people. Two million people died during the Middle Passage and are buried in the bottom of the Atlantic ocean — this is not ideology but fact.
The Legacy Museum uses art and storytelling that is similar to what can be found in Holocaust museums, sites of conscience around the world and other historic museums that try to engage visitors. The difference with the Legacy Museum is that it presents America’s painful history of racial bigotry, violence and exclusion. This history may cause us shame but it should also inspire us to never again tolerate the evils of slavery, lynching, segregation and racial bigotry. The fact that truth-telling about our history can feel “ideological” is less about the Legacy Museum and more about the multiple ways we have avoided confronting this history for too long.
— Tad Roach, Learning and Engagement Specialist, Equal Justice Initiative
Thank you for AMIkids croquet support
Thanks to the generosity of Brays Island and its owners, as well as the tireless good work of many people, the 34th AMIkids Beaufort Croquet Picnic at Brays Island was a huge hit May 3.
On behalf of the AMIkids Board of Trustees and our fine staff, I extend a special “thank you” to the Brays Island owners and to Brays’ ad hoc committee that organized a fantastic gathering the Friday before croquet. That group also coordinated the silent auction and helped gather some amazing donations.
At AMIkids Beaufort, we help young men separate a troubled past from a bright future and have been doing so since the mid-1980s in Beaufort County. AMIkids Beaufort’s campus in Dale provides not only education but numerous hands-on vocational opportunities, treatment and behavior modification.
With the support of 24 croquet teams, dozens of court sponsors and those who gave so generously, we had a tremendously successful event that will allow us to further meet the needs of our young men.
In the general croquet competition May 3, Lucky Wickets placed first in a playoff, followed by Beaufort Eye Center with CPA 1 taking third. In the Brays Island competition for the Tenney Cup, Team Pheasant placed first followed by Team Mallard and Team Quail.
Best-dressed man was Roger Van Buskirk and best-dressed woman (general) was Jessica Egan. Best-dressed Brays Woman was Kiersten Kendrick. Holly MacLean won the Bulls-Eye contest. Beaufort Eye Center celebrated as the Best Picnic set-up.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this event a success. For more information visit www.amikidsbeaufort.org.
— Kevin E. Dukes, Chairman, AMIkids Beaufort Board of Trustees
SC1 deserves so much better
Republican politicians like Nancy Mace would have us convinced that transgender people are taking over women’s sports and women’s bathrooms. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Today there are less than 10 transgender athletes competing at the intercollegiate level. That’s 10 out of approximately 500,000 or less than 0.002%. You might argue that transgender participation in women’s sports is inherently unfair, but it is certainly not one of the top problems facing our country today and it does not merit the attention it has been given.
So what are these Republican politicians actually doing? They are using the transgender non-issue to deflect our attention from the very harmful things they are doing to women. For example, the GOP’s “SAVE” act will make it more difficult for 69 million married women to vote and will likely disenfranchise many of them. We have already seen the harm their restrictions on reproductive freedom have done, especially to women who have problem pregnancies, rape and incest victims. Meanwhile, Republican budget cuts disproportionately harm women and children.
Nancy Mace proclaims herself to be a champion for women. In reality, she is a shameless self-promoter who demonizes transgender people to hide her real motives. Her ongoing feud with Representative Sarah McBride is truly embarrassing. South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District deserves so much better.
— Peter Birschbach, Port Royal
Thanks for Lt. Col. Dandridge’s articles
Attention Mike McCombs, editor: I’m writing to thank you and The Island News for publishing Lt. Col. [Larry] Dandridge’s articles of interest to veterans.
I had occasion to reach out to him for assistance with questions and was pleasantly surprised with his quick personal response that was quite helpful.
I’m sure his articles are of interest and help to other veterans and I trust he and you will continue this excellent service.
Thanks again for your outstanding paper.
— Owen Hand, Beaufort
