Bomber Blessings
Regarding William Doino's "Pius the Good" (June 12): I was a flight officer and bombardier with the 12th Air Force in Italy during World War II. In early 1945, my crew and I were given leave to fly our B-25 bomber to Rome for five days of rest and relaxation. We landed in Rome and ended up visiting the Vatican, where a cardinal greeted us and told us that Pope Pius XII would bless us if we were interested. Three of my crew were Catholics, and they were excited at the idea of seeing the pope. Besides, we would be returning to combat, and the guys felt that we could use all the blessings the pope might offer.
We were ushered in to see Pius XII. He was a much smaller man than I had envisioned, and very kindly looking. Five men in my crew stepped forward to be blessed. I held back, and Pope Pius asked me in broken English why I didn't step forward so he could bless me with the others. I replied that I was a Jew. The pope smiled and said that didn't matter at all--he wanted to bless me, too. Whereupon I stepped forward, thanked the pope, and was duly blessed. A few days later we were flying combat again. My crew got a big kick out of the whole incident. They told other bomber crews, "We're safe. We've got the only Jew in the Air Force who was blessed by the pope." Did the pope's blessing work? Hey, I'm still here, aren't I?
Richard L. Russell
La Jolla, Calif.
Young Democracy
Stanley Kurtz attempts to buttress his claim that polygamy promotes totalitarian rule by referring to the roles Brigham Young performed as territorial governor, city planner, business administrator, and head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("Polygamy Versus Democracy," June 5). Kurtz fails to note that Young safely led thousands of people from Illinois across the Great Plains in brutal weather to find refuge in the Salt Lake Valley. Governor Young was a man with good decision-making ability, and the people followed a man with a plan, which does not make him a tyrant.
James A. Marples
Longview, Tex.
Hitting the Bar
Edward Whelan's "Lowering the Bar" (June 12) lucidly illustrates the American Bar Association's liberal bias in evaluating federal judicial nominees. Whelan incorrectly assumes, though, that there are ABA members who would act fairly if appointed to serve on the judicial standards committee. The ABA is so leftist that many politically aware moderates and conservatives do not belong to the group. My law firm is typical: All our lawyers quit the ABA years ago, or never joined at all. Even if the ABA has a few unbiased members, the powers that be certainly would not countenance their involvement in the evaluation of federal judicial nominees.
Philip M. Van Hoy
Charlotte, N.C.
Safety Announcement
Joseph Epstein should be ashamed of himself for not wearing a helmet when he is bicycling ("Spandexless," June 12). He might be riding a unicycle around heaven sooner rather than later. A helmet is not a guarantee that there will be no head injury when falling while bicycling, but no helmet is an open invitation for, at the least, a nasty bump. The "smack" of the helmet on the pavement after a fall is greatly to be preferred to the silence after the "thunk" of the human head.
M.E. Harrington
Vista, Calif.