U.S. has lessons to learn from Vietnam experience

U.S. has lessons to learn from Vietnam experience
EDITOR:
The people of the United States must learn a vital lesson of the Vietnam War while the war in Iraq is raging and American lives are being lost and soldiers wounded. This letter is not about the morality or justification of either war. The facts are we fought the war in Vietnam and are now fighting one in Iraq. The primary lesson that each American needs to learn from Vietnam and apply to today's war in Iraq has to do with how we treat our men and women who wear the uniform of our country.
In watching and reading about the recent rallies and protests against the war in Iraq I have had flashbacks to the rallies and protests that took place during the Vietnam War, with many of the same faces up on the platforms, like Jane Fonda. The real tragedy of the Vietnam War was not that we fought it, regardless of the basis for the fight, or that we in essence lost. The real tragedy was how we treated the men and women who served our country. Our behavior as a nation was disgusting to say the least.
I can well remember guys my own age and older coming home from Vietnam without a word of thanks from their nation. Worse, people like Hanoi Jane actually took to blaming our service men for their service to our country.
Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq, each of us needs to take every opportunity possible to thank our soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen for their service to our nation. In the case of the now over 3,000 lives lost, our words of thanks are clearly not enough, but we must reach out to them and their families in our prayers and collective thoughts of special thanks. Each and every member of the U.S. Armed Forces today is a volunteer. No one forced them to go. Many followed the call like their grandfathers after Pearl Harbor and joined up after Sept. 11, 2001.
Others have joined and continue to join up while the war In Iraq is raging. This war like all others in history are started by old men and fought by young men and now women. This war is not their fault, they did not cause it. Our task as their fellows citizens is to make sure that everyone of them knows that their service is very much appreciated and to those who have fallen or are severely wounded, that their particular service is beyond our words to express our gratitude. Hate the war if you must, but please love the warriors, they are American's at our best.
PETER SAUER
Canfield
The right will say anything
EDITOR:
Why is it that the conservative psycho-babble you print is always shaded by the omission of vital details?
A prime example is the article by Dinesh D'Souza, who hypothesizes that the policies of Carter and Clinton were the "seeds" of the 9/11 attacks. Yet, he omits the disastrous policies of the Reagan-Bush terms, which speaks volumes of the "say anything" media policies of the right.
For instance, his article makes no mention of the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon in which 241 Marines were lost; if memory serves me right, Reagan-Bush made no retaliation against the Lebanese, Hezbollah or Syria, and "cut and run" about a month later. Then there was the missile attack upon the USS STARK by Saddam Hussein that resulted in the deaths of 37 sailors. If memory serves me right, there was no retaliation. And who can forget the raunchy Reagan-Bush Iran-Contra Affair in which money-for-drugs-for-guns embarrassed this nation in the eyes of the world.
What Dippy Dinesh fails to convey in his radical dissertation is that in radical Islam there is no common sense ... only a maniacal call for communal killing of friend, foe, and family alike to achieve their 15 nanoseconds of fame.
The three sorriest episodes in American history occurred: 1) in November 2000; (2) in November 2004; and (3) every date upon which Radical Right Stink Tanks were created to advocate attacking foreign nations based on lies.
JOHN ZORDICH
Youngstown