Bring in military to fight the fires

We have multiple homes burning to the ground out West. I was ignited by the picture in the Herald of the H-1 helicopter taking a bucket of water to the battle. Not to take any credit away from the noble crew that certainly was making a valiant effort, but where is the rest of the heavy metal? The Air Force, Navy, Marines, Army and Coast Guard have tons of aircraft sitting on the ramps all over this nation that are idle, waiting for the next al-Qaida attack.

Believe me, I am retired military, and troops want to get in the game, whatever it may be, in order to protect this nation. I think our states and homes burning to the ground certainly qualify as war!

President Obama flew to Colorado to assess the situation. This country needs leadership. There is admittedly a current, most bold effort being made by trained firefighters and state-sponsored flight crews; however, their equipment and potential pales in comparison to what our nation could do in a unified effort to deal with this emergency. I can only imagine the irony of the Air Force Academy burning down while our military’s potential was in the chocks.

Bruce Hendricks

Bartlett