Teachers owe Boundary soldier heartfelt apology

If a person needs any more evidence the world has lost all semblance of respect or common sense, all you have to do is read Brian Zimmerman's letter to the editor.

Zimmerman, who has been with the Idaho State Police for as long as anyone can remember, has raised some great kids with his wife, Roberta.

In his letter he explains how his son, Luke, was treated and mistreated while home from the Army for three weeks prior to being deployed to Iraq.

While wearing his uniform, Luke was approached by strangers and thanked for his service. A little boy approached him at Costco and shook his hand. There were many other high points the Zimmermans and their son encountered.

This was good stuff. Patriotic stuff. The kind of support and encouragement one would expect from citizens who admire Luke's commitment to his country.

So what were two teachers at Bonners Ferry High School thinking when they approached the recent BFHS grad and said "I support you but I don't support what you are doing over there."They took the occasion of Luke's Veterans' Day speech at BFHS to the entire student body to let him know exactly how they felt.

To call this exchange insulting or immature between Luke's former teachers and a young man about ready to be shipped out to Iraq, would be an understatement.

It's much more serious than that.

What can possibly be gained by teachers doing this? As the publisher of this newspaper, I defend the freedom of expression every day. But I can't comprehend what these two teachers were thinking.

Whatever happened to the old adage: "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all?"

One has to wonder if this lack of common sense is isolated to only this case. Who really cares what these teachers think? If they feel motivated and lack the impulse control as shown in this incident, what are they talking about in the classroom on a daily basis?

At the very least, these teachers owe a proud young man and his family an apology. They might not have known that Luke comes from a long line of Zimmermans who have defended this country. Great-grandfather, Leo, was the last surviving World War I veteran in Boundary County.

They might have not taken into consideration that Luke joined the Army to defend his country instead of taking another path that might have led or eventually lead to college or another career. They might have also pondered that their callous words came from the same voices that educated Luke only a short time back.

They didn't.

Brian Zimmerman hit the nail on the head when he wrote: "Keep your mouth shut if you can't appreciate my son fighting for your freedom. Tell me, tell anyone, but don't tell a soldier just before he goes into battle."

In this case, it looks like the student could educate the teachers when it comes to respect and common civility.

David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.