Letter from a Veteran

This one needs no editing:

From: "Larrietta Johnson"
Date: Tue, October 28, 2008 2:02 pm
To: billgillespie@billforgeorgia.com

Hello Bill,

It's Larrietta Johnson. I was the soldier in the accident traveling behind your vehicle in Kuwait. I just wanted you to know that I voted for you today to represent the first congressional district of Georgia as our congressman.

I also watched your debate against Jack Kingston on GPB and I was proud of the way you handled yourself. I remember you saying that no one listened to you when you were in charge. I think the important thing is that you listened to others. I once had a young army captain tell me "Sergeant there is nothing to discuss" when I was trying to explain something to him. You were not like that and I will never forget you telling me that I could always come to you whenever I had an issue to discuss. Thank you for that.

I am currently about to finish my last semester to become a registered nurse. I attend school at the Technical College of the Lowcountry in Beaufort, S.C. Out-of-state tuition, inadequate funding in educational benefits for veterans, and gas prices has left me on the verge of packing it up and leaving Hinesville. I've just about lost everything that I've worked so hard for trying to better myself and my financial situation through education.

We certainly need change here in the first congressional district of Georgia and I wholeheartedly believe that you are the change that we need. I was graded on an assignment in one of my nursing classes and ironically the subject was that I write a letter to my congressman. My nursing instructor was so impressed with the letter that she gave it her seal of approval, asked to speak with me privately about my concerns, and put a cute little sticky on my assignment that read "bet he contacts you." Guess what?

Congressman Jack Kingston never contacted me. I guess the issues concerning soldiers, their benefits, and education incentives for Licensed Practical Nurses to become Registered Nurses were not worth his time.

Thank you Bill for fighting the fight with me that most politicians only talk about. I voted for you today and I wish you all the best!

Sincerely,
Larrietta Johnson
Veteran, US Army

Here's a link to the debate.

Busses and Trains for South Georgia

Bill Gillespie will work for mass transit for south Georgia, including busses. This dovetails nicely with Valdosta's new Comprehensive Transportation Master Plan which contemplates a bus system for Valdosta. Bill goes beyond local mass transit:

I will also seek to commission a study to research the impact and cost of developing a light-commuter rail system for South Georgia, with lines connecting our centers of trade and education. I envision a “coastal connector” with a line to Savannah, Richmond Hill, Hinesville, Jesup, Darien, Brunswick and Kingsland. I also envision a “mid-south connector” with a line extending to Baxley, Waycross, Douglas and Valdosta. A goal would also be to use commuter rail to someday interconnect our region with other parts of the state: Athens, Augusta, Macon and Atlanta. No private property would be taken through eminent domain. Commuter trains could use current commercial tracks, or rails could be constructed through interstate medians. The trains would be clean, safe, fast, reliable and affordable, and would run on bio-fuel, produced in the First District, or another form of clean, efficient alternative energy. As your Congressman, I will connect South Georgia.

Much of south Georgia exists because of railroads. The Atlantic and Gulf Railroad connected Savannah to Waycross (shown as Tebeauville), Valdosta, and beyond by 1870. (A&G map from Official Guide of the Railways 1870. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage by Steve Storey.) Residents of Troupville actually picked up and moved 4 miles to found Valdosta on that railroad.

Other railroads were added, mostly to exploit turpentine and logging, plus passenger trains. (GS&F map from Official Guide of the Railways, April, 1918. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage by Steve Storey.) By the early 1900s, you could take a train to most sizeable towns in the state, and this remained true through the 1940s. Ask anybody over about the age of 70, and they'll remember.

The beauty of it is: most of those railroads are still there and still in use for freight. South Georgia doesn't need to buy rights of way; it just needs to make deals with the owners of the existing railroads. We know this is possible because Central Florida Commuter Rail is doing it with CSX, which is the owner of one of the main lines through south Georgia and north Florida.

The price of gas may be temporarily down right now, but $3.50/gallon is still more than twice the price of 2000 and there's every reason to expect gas prices will go back up, and even higher. People are already driving less. They'd drive even less if they had another way to get places. It's time for mass transit. Bill Gillespie can help bring back busses and rail for 21st century south Georgia.