Editor,

I am a retired United Methodist minister. I am 93 years of age, born Nov. 14, 1920, in Boone, Iowa, to Elmer John Berg and Irene Mc Fee Berg.

I have lived in Coupeville, Wash., for 20 years, with my wives, Ruth Mae Sanborn, Meiko Hayes and, since 2007, Phylis Stelling Hollamon.

I never served in the Armed Forces of the USA, although I applied twice for the chaplaincy between 1941-45.

My father, the late Elmer J. Berg of Boone, served in France during World War I as a member of the American Expeditionary Force. After the Armistice, he served in the Army of the Occupation, patrolling the Rhine at Andernach, Germany, until being shipped back to New York, and thence back to Boone.

My father was not the only member of our family who has served. My son, Lowell Sanborn Berg, served on the nuclear submarine Sand Lance in the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1973.

Before being inducted into the Army, my father had married my mother, Irene Mc Fee, in Boone. Immediately afterward, he was sent to Camp Hood in Waco, Texas, where he received basic training and was inducted into the United States Army as a buck private.

My reason for writing is not to try to tell you what to do, but to report what my friends are saying to me. They are saying that the sound of the practicing planes at night is making them deaf. They are reminding me that they have served in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard.

I am not asking you to stop them from flying over Coupeville alone but over Whidbey Island also.

I am fully aware that this would be a difficult decision for you, but I don’t think it will be one you will regret. I am sure that you have had a brilliant career and will continue to serve our country.

Darrel E. Berg

Coupeville