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 The Chronicle welcomes you online! Please feel free to respond to these editorials or letters to the editor by sending your letters to the editor.

We condense letters; most, as published, won't exceed 300 words. A letter must include the writer's name and city, which will be published, and an address and telephone number for verification, which will not be published. Writers may be limited to one letter every 30 days. Open letters, letters to third parties and poetry are not considered. Letters from people living outside the Chronicle's circulation area usually are not considered.

McClain's fate: Will you be next?

Web posted June 13, 2000

 Have a thought? Go to the @ugusta Forums.

Editor, The Chronicle

The media coverage of Gary McClain versus Tenneco has made me feel sick and helpless. I have been a friend of Mr. McClain for nine years. My husband and Gary have been best friends since they were in fourth grade together. Thus, I'm writing this letter for both of us...

Mr. McClain is a religious man. He doesn't just talk about being a Christian; he lives like one. He goes to church regularly, tithes and gives money regularly to several charities. ...

The battle between him and Tenneco is not what is bearing so heavily on our hearts. What hurts us is that this wonderful man is having his character soiled - maybe to the point of never again being able to be seen in the same light by others.

We wish everyone knew Mr. McClain the way we do. They would know he is not mentally ill, but that he is a fine person. They would know, as we do, that he is truthful and would never hurt a living thing.

I am so glad that I do not live in Aiken County to have Sheriff Howard Sellers serve and protect my rights. He certainly did a poor job of protecting Mr. McClain's.

It is our reasoning, as it should be everyone's, that it does not mean someone is mentally ill or a danger to others or themselves just because they have been seen by a psychiatrist. However, maybe that is why so many people refuse to seek help. The fear of being labeled mentally ill is enough to make anyone leery of doing so.

Everyone who needs help should ponder how they would feel if they were in Mr. McClain's place.

Next time they could be the innocent person kidnapped from the highway and sent to a mental institution. ... They could be the one not permitted to defend themselves against a large company, a company that might find this an easy and convenient way to shut people up. They could be the one to deny mental illness only to be told that denial is one of the symptoms. They could be one that is not treated as an American citizen protected by our Constitution.

Any one of us could be next. Look what happened to Mr. McClain.

Linda Weaver, Trenton