Canton Sucks...

...and if you want to know why, read Thursday's Martin Olson's Stark County Political Report , Shame On Canton! City refused to Honor Only Woman Killed in Viet Nam War Who Hailed from Canton: Sharon Lane, Graduate Aultman School of Nursing.

Seems Canton City, and most of the surrounding town and township governments refused to divvy up $3,500 to purchase a memorial bench at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Park located in Clinton, Ohio, 10 miles from Canton. Martin's entry is long, but here's a couple snips from it:

Ken Noon [owner of Summit Memorials in Akron, which produced the benches] tells the SCPR that over the past three years that the committee working on funding for the project has visited virtually every nook and cranny (either by actual appearance or telephone call) of Stark County government (probably about May, 2007 - before the financial crisis hit) asking for financial participation in the development of the park only to be turned down by all
except for Canal Fulton, Lawrence Township, Plain Township and several graduating classes of Northwest High School (Canal Fulton/Lawrence Township/New Franklin).

and

Canton city council officials reportedly told OVMP officials that the park is not in Stark County and therefore they do not wish to participate.

and to add insult to injury:

Jackson Township government officials told Park officials that Jackson would give no money but would issue a proclamation if Park officials would come to pick it up at (and this is the SCPR's description - not that of Park officials) "at a photo-op" session.

According to Martin, even the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce refused to support the park.

Incredible!

I Hate Canton opposed the Vietnam War and was active in the Canton Area Peace Movement. We knew two of the 63 Cantonians (total Stark Countians believed to be as high as 127) who died in that useless war: Bob Kettering and Juris Puduls. And don't get us started on the abominable treatment of Sharon Lane and her memory over the decades.

Canton was rah-rah-rah around the flag during the war--but now the rah-rahers refuse to shell out a pittance for a memorial for Bob, Juris, Sharon and the every other local and Ohioan (1 out of every 19 causalities were from Ohio) who died so they could be stomped on today by tin horn functionaries with cell phones.

I don't why see why a bench can't be privately funded. It shouldn't be that difficult for us regular guys to raise $3,500 and show up the county apparatchiki for the chumps they are.

Here's a video about the park produced by Western Reserve Pubic Television. (long)