Letters to the Editor: 03.13.97
Historical Record
Wainscott
March 4, 1997
Dear Helen,
Your Feb. 20 article about the planned Rough Riders reunion is just one more reminder of the persistence of historical mythology, in this case sponsored by the Suffolk County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation.
The proposed reunion celebrates the centennial of the Spanish American War and the subsequent military encampment at Montauk. It appears that the Rough Riders and Teddy Roosevelt will be glorified to the exclusion of all other participants, and reference is made to the famous Battle of San Juan Hill. Let's get the record straight.
Teddy and the Rough Riders never set foot on San Juan Hill during the assault. The hill was taken by units of the First and Third Brigades, including all the black regulars of the 24th and 25th Infantry. When the hill was taken, the man who led the charge, Lieut. Jules Ord, lay dead at the top.
It is not my intention to belittle the bravery or performance of the Rough Riders, but they were amateurs while the black soldiers were professionals. In an earlier engagement, some reports had it that the black soldiers saved the Rough Riders from extermination. It is interesting to note that Camp Wikoff was named after Colonel Wikoff, who was the only brigade commander not to hold the rank of general. His brigade, however, contained two of the four black regiments in the campaign, and they rightly share the honor.
Any celebration in Montauk that does not recognize the outstanding performance of the black regiments, the 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 24th and 25th Infantry, would be not only an injustice but a flagrant disregard of the historical record.
Very sincerely,
HENRY CLIFFORD
Simplest Arithmetic
Springs
March 9, 1997
Dear Helen,
Do the village fathers really think we are all idiots, incapable of doing the simplest arithmetic? They graciously abandon their plan for a $250 yearly parking sticker only to sock it to us with a $10 nightly fee. Translated into charges for 12 months - let's say at even just three nights a week for 40 weeks, that comes to a whopping $1,200 annually! No way we should let them get away with that.
None of us park at the East Hampton station because the Ladies keep it so pretty or because the lights are so wonderful. We park there because it's where we live. I'd much prefer to go to Bridgehampton or Southampton - where neither village nor town practices extortion - but it would mean hitting the clogged Montauk Highway, and the point of taking the Long Island Rail Road in the first place is to avoid that.
This is by no means my last word on the subject, and I hope that all the people who've told me they share my outrage will make their voices heard.
With best regards,
SILVIA TENNENBAUM
P.S. Southampton, Bridgehampton, and Speonk charge nothing, even to out-of-town cars. Patchogue has a free lot for them. Huntington Town charges $30 a year for parking stickers.
P.P.S. I was wrong about the East Hampton Village beach sticker charge - it's $150, not $120.
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