DEAR ABBY: In a recent column in the Delaware News-Journal, you condemned the traditional Labor Day Pigeon Shoot in Hegins, Pa. I was pleased to learn that you were compassionate enough to have written to then-Gov. Dick Thornburgh in 1986, protesting that barbaric tradition, and you asked him to please put an end to it. You said he responded with a courteous letter defending the live pigeon-shoot as a time-honored tradition.

Well, Abby, last week, on Election Day, Dick Thornburgh suffered an unexpected defeat in his race for the U.S. Senate. In Philadelphia, the newspaper headlines read: "Wofford Stuns Thornburgh!"

In sustaining this totally unexpected defeat, Dick Thornburgh must have felt as stunned as those doomed pigeons of Hegins for whom he refused to take merciful action. -- JANICE DILLON, WILMINGTON, DEL.

DEAR JANICE: I have received a few letters asking if it was just a coincidence that the letter about Dick Thornburgh and the Labor Day Pigeon Shoot in Hegins appeared in my column just a few days before the Pennsylvania elections. I assure you, it was. I am not so egotistical to presume that my column was in any way responsible for Thornburgh's defeat. Suffice it to say, it didn't help him any.

Read on:

DEAR ABBY: Re Dick Thornburgh's letter to you describing the Hegins Pigeon Shoot as "a time-honored tradition": May I remind him of a few other "time-honored traditions"?

-- Public hangings

-- Segregation

-- Cockfights

-- Bullfights

-- The caste system

-- Apartheid

-- Binding the feet of female infants (in pre-revolutionary China) to impede their growth

-- Leaving elderly people out on the ice to die

Some of these "traditions" needed a war to stop them. Others ended because they became illegal. I thank God we have people who see injustices for what they are, and have the courage to fight for change. -- ROSALIE BEREZICK, TRUCKSVILLE, PA.

DEAR ROSALIE: Thanks for writing. I am reminded of the immortal words attributed to Edmund Burke (1729-1797), the Irish-born British statesman: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

DEAR ABBY: Greetings from Oregon. I'm writing concerning that POW bracelet which Karen A. Tamura of Cerritos, Calif., found in her garage. (It was engraved "Lt. Cmdr. John McKamey.")

I, too, am a veteran, and I've always wished that I could have gone to Vietnam, but I was too young at the time. My older brother went to Vietnam, and he came back a different man: psychologically screwed.

I've read thousands of pages about that war and talked to numerous vets, and yes, they are very reluctant to talk about it.

Abby, if you can't find the family of Lt. Cmdr. John McKamey, please send me that POW bracelet. I will put it on my wrist and wear it to my deathbed, or until all POWs have been returned or accounted for. -- GREGORY WANG, BEND, ORE.

DEAR GREGORY: I have some happy news for you. Read on:

DEAR ABBY: I'm replying to Karen Tamura from Cerritos, Calif.: John McKamey is alive and well and residing in Pensacola, Fla. He's a wonderful man and I'm proud that I met him. -- DENNY GLYNN

Most teen-agers do not know the facts about drugs, AIDS, and how to prevent unwanted pregnancy. It's all in Abby's new, updated, expanded booklet, "What Every Teen Should Know." To order, send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Teen Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: I am a man who used to think your column was just another women's gossip column, so I never bothered to read it. Then my wife called my attention to something you wrote, and I'm glad she did because I have been an avid reader ever since.

Abby, I have a question you probably have been asked before. Are you a descendant of President Martin Van Buren? His wife's name was Abigail. -- BRANDON WELSH, PHOENIX

DEAR MR. WELSH: No, Abigail Van Buren is my pen name. However, Martin Van Buren's wife's name was not Abigail -- it was Hannah. Hannah bore him four sons, then died, leaving Van Buren a widower.

Martin Van Buren moved into the White House with four bachelor sons. One day, Dolley, the wife of James Madison, our fourth president, came to the White House accompanied by her beautiful young niece, Angelica Singleton, who was visiting from South Carolina.

President Van Buren's eldest son, Abraham, promptly fell in love with Angelica. They were married shortly after and moved into the White House where Abraham served as his father's private secretary, and Angelica assumed the duties of the first lady.

However, there were two presidents whose wives WERE named Abigail -- John Adams (our second president) and Millard Fillmore (our 13th president).

I have probably told you much more about American presidents than you care to know, but I became fascinated with the American presidents B.C. (Before Column), and have been hooked on the subject ever since.

DEAR ABBY: What is this world coming to? My hairdresser, who is gay, told me that a powerful gay group is trying to legalize same-sex marriages.

Abby, I have nothing against homosexuals, but I can't understand why they need a "license" to live together. Please enlighten me. -- FREDA IN FRESNO

DEAR FREDA: In most states, married couples have the legal right to be on each other's health, disability, life insurance and pension plans. They also get special tax exemptions, deductions and refunds. A married person may inherit property and have rights of survivorship that avoid inheritance tax.

If a couple is married, the spouse is legally "next of kin" in case of death or medical emergencies. Marriage is more than a piece of paper; it provides a couple with LEGAL protection.

I have had letters urging me to remind people with AIDS to see a lawyer and have a proper will drawn up in order to ensure that whatever they leave will go specifically to a person of their choice. In the absence of a will -- the nearest next of kin (usually the parents) will inherit everything.

DEAR READERS: If you're looking for the perfect Bat (or Bar) Mitzvah gift, get "Deborah, Golda and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America" by Letty Cottin Pogrebin (published by Morrow). And buy one for yourself, but don't lend it to anyone -- you'll never get it back. It's a book of interest to both sexes.

Hot off the press -- Abby's new booklet, "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send a long, business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I travel the highways a lot and listen to the radio for weather reports. This can be very frustrating. The station call letters are broadcast (for example: XXXX), but never do they disclose the city they are from. They give weather alerts and name the affected counties, but never the cities they are near or in! When you are driving down strange highways (never traveled before) and hear the weather alerts (but no city or town named), it is impossible to read a map and try to find the name of the county, which is in small print.

This has happened to us twice. We drove right into tornado warnings not realizing it. The sky grew darker and darker and then the storm hit. Have you ever tried driving through St. Louis, road construction, blinding rain and lightning? I did. And I was a nervous wreck by the time I got through St. Louis. We couldn't even see the white lines on the highway. Our turnoff was blocked by road construction and we had to sit on the berm until the storm passed.

There should be an FCC regulation that forces radio stations to include their location and, if a weather alert arises, announce which main highways are included in the alert area. Please have pity on the poor traveler going through your state. I'm sure others feel as we do. -- INDIANA TRAVELERS

DEAR TRAVELERS: Your transmission has been received loud and clear -- so now hear this: This is Station ABBY in Los Angeles, imploring other broadcasters to mention their location along with their call letters. The information could be a lifesaver.

DEAR ABBY: I am a 47-year-old single man who is dating a 42-year-old divorced woman who has three teen-aged daughters (15, 16 and 17). I intend to marry her and adopt her daughters.

She wants to marry a man who will be a good father to her daughters, and the daughters are very eager to have their mother married to a man who would be a father to them. This will be my first marriage.

Can you recommend a book for me? I don't know much about raising teen-aged girls. -- BEWILDERED IN CANADA

DEAR BEWILDERED: Your local library should have a wide selection of books on "stepfamilies" and "blended" families.

I respect a woman who wants to marry a man who would be a good father to her teen-aged daughters, but since they will become adults and fly the nest within the next five years, you would be wise to evaluate her as a woman with whom you plan to spend the rest of your life.

Everything you'll need to know about planning a wedding can be found in Abby's booklet, "How to Have a Lovely Wedding." To order, send a long, business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054. (Postage is included.)