Letters: Let’s remember the everyday heroes and not lose our society and our way of life

“ABC News” recently featured the story of a snowplow driver in Ohio who cleared the way for an ambulance to reach a young child needing to get to the hospital, then led the way back to the hospital. All turned out well. A hero.

It was nice to see something good on the news. It got me thinking. There are many heroes every day and everywhere. We often hear stories of firefighters, police officers and the like. True heroes. They often make the news, and their efforts are acknowledged. They deserve it.

There are everyday heroes also. Too many to mention, but they plow our streets early so we can get to work. They deliver food, medications, mail, newspapers and more. The repair technicians, the teachers, the clerks in stores. On and on. I say again, too many to mention. In fact, almost all of us help society with our efforts. We receive help from others. The success of our way of life depends upon it. The least we can do, and should do, is thank people in our interactions with them. Tip appropriately. Let them know we care.

Looking at politics and the daily news, let’s not lose what we have.

Here’s a story of a society that wasn’t doing so well. A friend had a relative visiting from the former Soviet Union. The conversations included the exchanges, “How are you doing? Do you need anything?” “No, no, things are going OK. Well, maybe a pair of shoes.” “Let’s go get a pair right now.” “Will they have my size?”

He was dumbfounded by the shelves full of shoes with all styles and sizes. It wasn’t the same in the Soviet Union.

Again, let’s not lose our way of life and our society.

— Bill Burns, South Elgin

The virtues of Chicagoans

Subzero temperatures in Chicago have shown the world that Chicagoans are not the scumbags that the president claims they are. The city workers spent long hours plowing and salting the streets to make travel safe. Church and civic groups provided food and shelter to those in need. Children of working parents were invited to classmates’ homes when school was canceled. Postal carriers made their rounds. People went overboard, checking on their neighbors, driving them to doctor’s appointments, shoveling the sidewalks and offering to go shopping.

The newspaper truck delivered our paper on the curb, and our neighbor brought it up and put it on our porch. Young adults repaid these neighbors by paying it forward to the people in their own neighborhoods.

Yes, Chicago has its problems, but when the chips (temperatures) are down, there is no better place to be.

— Mary Ann McGinley, Wilmette

Preserve historical truth

Bernard Cherkasov and Kelley Szany’s powerful reflection on Fritzie Fritzshall’s legacy reminds us why Holocaust education remains so urgent (“The living lessons of Auschwitz,” Jan. 28). As director of a new museum in Lithuania on Jewish history, I am similarly committed to telling the vivid stories of Holocaust victims and survivors.

The level of Holocaust denial and ignorance is alarming. A 50-state survey of American citizens ages 18 to 39 found that nearly half could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto, despite there having been more than 40,000. In Europe, at least 20% of people across seven countries believed that 2 million or fewer Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

Our museum tells the story of the Lithuanian Jewish community from its origins to the Holocaust. Of the 190,000 Jews who lived in Lithuania on the eve of the Second World War, over 90% perished during the Holocaust. We keep the real-life testimony of Jews at the heart of the museum, seeking to do full justice to Lithuanian Holocaust victims and their individual stories.

Since opening in 2025, we have welcomed around 2,000 visitors per week, including many school groups and international visitors. Museums such as ours are custodians of historical truth. In an age of disinformation, misinformation and dangerous rhetoric that dehumanizes entire communities, we must do everything we can to preserve them and extend their reach.

— Jonas Heraklis Dovydaitis, director, Lost Shtetl Museum, Šeduva, Lithuania

An oath to Constitution

This is a reflection on National Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed on Jan. 27 each year.

I lived six years, from 2004 to 2010, in Germany. The remembrances and reminders of the vile Nazi regime are everywhere: plaques, notices, memorials, etc., reminding people of what occurred at the site. Even in the little village where I lived, its former Gestapo headquarters was labeled with information of the cruelty and lawlessness that occurred there.

Each time I stumbled across such a reminder, I was thankful the United States was a country where all government workers and leaders swore an oath to the Constitution of the United States — not to a person.

There are no words to describe the grief, stupidity and evil caused by the loss of that principle of honoring the U.S. Constitution.

— Dee King, McHenry

A good dream of justice

I have been having nightmares about the state of the world. But one recent night, I had a great dream. In it, some good nations got together and formed a force that went into Russia, grabbed the autocratic Vladimir Putin and took him to an international court to be tried for crimes against humanity.

Unfortunately, I woke up right before I found out whom the next autocratic would-be world emperor they would take to be tried for his or her crimes against humanity.

— Steve Manst, Arlington Heights 

14th Amendment rights

Regarding the op-ed by state Rep. Norine Hammond, “What state Democratic lawmakers can do to reduce ICE operations” (Jan. 29): I was appalled to read her reference to immigrants as “criminal” merely because they have been accused of crimes.

Surely, public servants such as Hammond are familiar with the Constitution: The 14th Amendment requires that people receive due process of law and equal protection under the law.

This Democrat would prefer to see law enforcement focus on preventing and solving crimes. In addition to disrupting Illinois businesses, schools and harming Illinoisans, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has prevented local law enforcement officers from doing their jobs.

The sooner Operation Midway Blitz ends, the better for Illinois!

— Ronni Graff, Northbrook

Dehumanizing words

State Rep. Norine Hammond alleges that, according to the Department of Homeland Security, “Illinois released 1,768 criminal illegal immigrants with active detainers.” Really? Illinois is releasing people arrested, tried and convicted of heinous crimes? Oh, wait. Merely “accused” of committing crimes.

Lots of people who are accused of committing crimes are, for one reason or another, never convicted of actually committing a crime. Be that as it may, what, pray tell, is a “criminal illegal alien,” per the DHS description? If I should see one walking down the street, what would this person look like?

Is Hammond confusing people who happen to be present in our neighborhoods who were not born in our land with her concept of “criminal illegal immigrants”? Please explain.

Being here is not a crime, except under certain very narrowly described circumstances, such as having previously been deported for violating civil requirements for entering our land without going through the bureaucratic rigmarole.

As a proud descendant of forbearers who came to this land without jumping through any bureaucratic hoops or possessing passports and visas, I fail to see any reason why we shouldn’t conservatively roll back the laws on immigration to their status in the early 18th century. None of this post-steam punk claptrap, please.

I’m an originalist when it comes to constitutional matters. If it was good enough for James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, it’s good enough for me.

— Bill Porter, Vernon Hills

The limits of lethal force

In his letter of Jan. 30 (“Kimmel’s narrative”), David Tulanian compliments late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for extending condolences in response to the killing of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti by federal Border Patrol agents. Tulanian expresses regret that killings of citizens by undocumented individuals were not also extended similar sympathy.

I don’t know the circumstances around the killings committed by these immigrants who entered our country illegally, but I will point out that law enforcement officers may use their weapons only when necessary to protect themselves or others from potential harm.

In an oft-quoted excited moment during a police-involved riot, Mayor Richard J. Daley stated that the police were not there to create disorder but to preserve disorder.

— Sheldon I. Saitlin, Boca Raton, Florida

Oversight by Congress

​The administration’s current trajectory is a stain on our democracy. Between the reckless threats to annex Greenland — which have destroyed our trust on the world stage — and the daily civil liberties violations at home, America is slipping into a dark place.

​Most horrifying are the recent killings of U.S. citizens by federal agents during immigration raids. When the government can take the lives of its own people without due process, the Constitution becomes a mere suggestion. We are being told by officials such as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to ignore what we are seeing with our own eyes, but Operation Midway Blitz is a reality that Illinois must resist.

​I am proud of our state leadership for fighting back legally, but every citizen needs to wake up. We cannot accept diplomacy by force abroad or enforcement by execution at home.

We must demand that our representatives exercise their Article I oversight immediately.

— Amanda Staley. Harvard, Illinois

Sullivan in correct lane

Now some letter writers are telling sports columnist Paul Sullivan to stay in his lane (Jan. 29): Write on sports topics, not politics. So shut up and dribble?

His column is titled “In the Wake of the News.” The subtle references to our country’s troubles are certainly in the wake, if not the forefront, of our news.

Keep it up, Mr. Sullivan.

— Bill O’Connor, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

At heart of our climate

I give Paul Sullivan accolades for his “In the Wake of the News” column. His sports reporting is outstanding, as is his commentary on the state of our country. His comments, through subtle, strike at the heart of our political climate.

He’s a wonderful, insightful writer.

— Chuck Kessler, Northbrook

Reevaluating enforcement

On May 4, 1970, four innocent people were murdered and nine others injured on the campus of Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard. That tragedy, for which nobody was ever held accountable, is widely viewed as a defining moment in American history. It did lead directly to a significant increase in the intensity of and participation in the anti-Vietnam War protest movement.

The recent killings of two innocent people in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents hopefully will similarly lead to a reevaluation of the entire current immigration enforcement efforts as well as the realization by all reasonable citizens that this tragedy must result in the enactment of a fair and sensible immigration policy at the federal level.

America needs to demonstrate to the world that it is still a country of the rule of law and democratic values and that the principles set forth in our Constitution are still the norms to which we aspire.

— Doug Steinman, Morton Grove

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