From the Publisher: The Letter

By Beth Erickson, Citizen Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Deep in thought, Canton Veterans Agent Tony Andreotti sat in his office on the second floor of the Williams Estate months after he assumed the position in 1999. He knew his mission: to serve the veterans of the town he loved. What he puzzled over that day was how to find them. There was limited Internet access back then, especially among the town’s older veterans. Tony’s solution was to submit a weekly column to the Citizen to share information about benefits, how to file disability claims and the availability of VA programs. “Veterans need to know I’m here and that I can help,” he would say. “They need to know I care.”

As casualties from the ongoing war in Iraq mounted, Tony decided to print the weekly tally of lives lost at the end of each column — sometimes including his negative viewpoint about the war.

More than once, I was asked by readers why I printed Tony’s “anti-war commentary.” My answer was always the same. Tony saw the horrors of war firsthand when he served in Korea — he lost his best friend there. In his role as veterans agent, he sees the pain and suffering that never went away. He has stood at the bedside of Canton veterans dying from Agent Orange exposure and offered solace to some who left the battlefield but battled PTSD for decades. There is no one whose opinion about war is more valid.

In the fall of 2005, I received a letter supporting the war in Iraq, essentially rebutting Tony’s anti-war opinion. In a follow-up call to the paper to make sure I had received it, the writer asked that I not change a word and that the letter run as soon as possible. The letter was scheduled to run in the next issue of the Citizen. Days before the paper would go to press, the town received word that 19-year-old Shayne Cabino, a 2004 graduate of Canton High School, had been killed in action by an IED while serving in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Where was Tony when the death of a young soldier became more than a number at the end of his column but heartbreakingly personal? He went immediately to Shayne’s family to do what he did best, offering comfort and trying to find the right words to help ease their pain — often crying right along with Shayne’s mother and father. He promised them the town of Canton would never forget Shayne Cabino or the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country. Years later, he kept that promise.

* Because of Tony’s efforts, there is a monument dedicated to Shayne Cabino at Veterans Memorial Park in Canton Corner Cemetery.

* This commentary is printed in the same space where Tony’s column ran for two decades.

* The letter expressing support for the war in Iraq did not run in the Citizen the week Shayne Cabino died. It was permanently withdrawn by the writer.

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