Dear "Leaders":
Yesterday and today the F-35 fighter-bombers terrorized the children of Burlington, including my two-year-old son.
School started for the Burlington School District yesterday. What should be a glorious time of reconnection, excitement, and learning is fraught with terror and stress because of the bodily assault from the 115-decibel level noise on our children's bodies.
Imagine the kindergartener trying to figure out where the bathroom is located.
Or the 5th grader who just moved here from out of state and is trying to make friends.
Or the 12th grader who is struggling with their identity.
You are causing harm to all of them as they start the school year.
You are making their lives worse.
I spent 11 years teaching, and the first week of school is a time of nervousness, stress, and excitement. Any added stressors just make everything worse.
And you are making everything worse.
Every single one of you is in a position of power.
Every single day you don't do everything in your power to end the F-35 basing in Burlington is an affront to our children.
You are hurting our children every single day.
The F-35s shouldn't be here. They shouldn't be anywhere. They are climate-frying death machines designed to kill human beings.
On behalf of our children, who are trying to learn today and are unable to call bullshit on the people in power—shame on you.
Cozying up to the military-industrial complex and allowing this daily onslaught to happen is pathetic, cowardly, and shameful.
Do something.
I live in Hinesburg, some small distance from the airport. The F-35's have been out almost every day lately, and they are extremely bothersome and stressful, not only in what they represent, but in their busy noise. So much waste. So much misdirected potential. So much filling the world with patriarchal hubris.