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On May 30 my family and I were traveling home to Cape Breton from Ontario when we hit the shoulder of the highway and rolled our van.

We all escaped without any injuries and with great attitudes. The treatment we got from all those involved was tremendous, and we wanted to thank you.

The first two people on the scene were soldiers on their way home from CFB Gagetown. Your efforts extended further than just stopping to help us. Constables Jason Tremblay and Alain Martineau picked us up, dusted us off and made sure we were safely on our way before turning in for the day. Thank you for your patience and compassion.

The fire department and EMTs were great. My kids love their teddy bear, Fuzzy, who became a member of the family.

There was another couple from Ontario who stopped and a gentleman whose name I did not get. Thank you so much for taking the time to find my children's toys and insure they were alright.

The people at the Delta Fredericton Hotel were fantastic, as were Candice from Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the gentleman from Sunbury Towing.

Finally, Bob Fowlie from Dana's Collision Centre, you went far beyond the call of duty. Everything you have done for us has confirmed that there are still good people out there with big hearts. To anyone who may read this, if ever you have to deal with a collision centre, you could not find anyone better.

I have travelled through New Brunswick so many times I can not even begin to count. I have made little motel stops along the way but never actually stopped to check things out. Not anymore. Fredericton is going to be our regular stop from now on because it is a beautiful city full of beautiful people. We'll see you next year!

Carla Steele

Guelph, Ont.

Widows must tell their stories

In reference to an article in your paper June 25, I am most grateful to Michael Staples for his story entitled "Widows on warpath over lack of compensation." Thank you for getting an important message out to your readers.

However, I feel more information is necessary on this very important topic. First, because of a deadline - Feb. 6, 2006 - widows of soldiers who served at CFB Gagetown during the crucial years and were affected by chemical spraying have been left out of the ex gratia payout.

I wish to inform the public that these men died of horrific diseases attributable to chemical use. They died long before they should have. My husband was a very active man who was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2003. Already the disease had spread to his bones. He had cancer on his hip bone, his ribs and his skull. He was given six months to one year to live.

During this time, he went from the use of a cane to a wheelchair and finally a hospital bed. He had three massive doses of radiation and was in my complete care, with the help of extramural nurses.

I'm sure those who have lost a loved one can empathize. It was horrible to watch him struggle physically, and worse to watch the mental agony. Our family was completely devastated. We are still recovering. Ralph and I were married 44 years. He died Jan. 4, 2004.

I can assure you there are even worse stories among us widows. I encourage these women to tell their stories. People need to know this struggle is not over. Officially, it will end in April 2009.

Policies can be changed. We need to be heard. Our stories are important. We will "soldier" on. The government needs to realize that if you make a promise, you keep it, or you lose where politicians hurt the most - at the polls.

Bette J. Hudson

Lincoln, N.B.

www.widowsonwarpath.com

Teens must hear the truth about becoming mothers too early

For the first time in 15 years, the teen birth rate in America has increased.

Have the negative ramifications of teenage pregnancy been overshadowed by celebrity moms like Nicole Richie, Jessica Alba and Jamie Lynn Spears, movies like Knocked Up, Waitress, Juno and the pregnant girls at a Massachusetts high school? Do teens view pregnancy as cool?

Some teens have proven they can handle adolescence and motherhood successfully, whereas many others don't realize the problems encountered by children raising children. The reality of facing life with an incomplete education, fewer job opportunities and limited financial resources can be overwhelming. Research indicates girls searching for direction, lacking self-esteem and parental involvement in their lives are at risk.

What are potential solutions? Abstinence programs have been effective in building self-esteem, discipline, and helping teenagers to make appropriate choices in challenging situations.

Former teenage moms must tell it like it is. Their message should be, stay in school, graduate and delay having children until marriage. Role models that teenagers admire and respect are crucial.

The peer pressure issue is relevant. Parents, as the most important and essential mentors, can take a leadership role in talking to their children about their attitudes toward sex and pregnancy. Schools also have a role to play by promoting and stressing abstinence and also providing a comprehensive sex education program where discussions and information about premarital sex, having babies and contraception are featured.

Harold Phalen

Fredericton

No death penalty, but death by lethal injection for fetuses

Your editorial page indicated that, while "Dr. Morgentaler could possibly be the most controversial and contentious recipient of the Order in the award program's 41 years, no one could claim that he is the first."

Perhaps he is the first.

He is certainly the first pied piper of the abortion crusade in Canada to erase the fine line between pre-meditated cause of death by abortion and pre-meditated cause of death by murder.

While the death penalty has been abolished in Canada for several years, our pre-born children still die by lethal injection through the abortion process.

In Canada it is acceptable, because of Dr. Morgentaler's successful crusade, for a woman to consider the developing human body growing within her as her property, and legally have the heart stopped and the developing body surgically removed, with the same deliberation as having a dentist remove a bothersome tooth.

The editorial mentioned that René Levesque was a controversial figure to receive the Order of Canada. But while Levesque was a pied piper promoting a viable, living distinct society in Quebec, Dr. Morgentaler remains the only pied piper to legally extinguish the distinct society of so many pre-born children.

It is hard not to separate the terrible agony that Dr. Morgentaler experienced as a survivor of the Holocaust and the cause he has made so specifically his own through the abortion process.

It is such a pity that a person of his intelligence cannot distinguish between the Holocaust that he personally experienced and the Holocaust he is promoting through the death of the innocents in Canada.

Mary Ryan

Fredericton

Why not offer free transit trip to new bottle depot?

Most definitely the re-location of our York Street bottle depot will affect many.

There isn't public transportation to the Timothy Avenue location, and if there were, it is most likely folks would not feel welcome when they boarded the bus.

Financially, the ticket purchase does not permit for one payment and return, so this would not be cost effective for our local 'doers of good deeds' who pick up our throw-aways.

Here's my take on this issue: I want to say thank you to every one of the folks who collects these plastic items.

They are doing our environment a huge favour. Instead of having these containers and bottles lying in the landfill for hundreds of years, they are doing you and I a wonderful service.

The City of Fredericton has a highly paid Green co-ordinator who spouts the benefits of recycling, so how about honouring these community heroes?

Better yet, let's offer them a free public transit trip at least three times a week to Timothy Avenue.

Jane Stewart

Fredericton