As a Vietnam veteran and an American I feel I must answer Michael Marston’s letter (Journal, Dec. 26). As an ex-serviceman, Marston must know that even in war there are rules followed by most of the world: the Geneva Convention. I realize that most countries do not abide by them, including us. What it does is give a legal standing to prosecute those who do not abide by them. As for Dick Cheney, he is a coward and when Rumsfeld was secretary of defense and said, “You go to war with what you have not what you want,” that made me sick. That his millionaire buddies benefitted from the war while the men and women who serve had to go without proper armor is criminal.
As for torture, Marston should listen to Sen. John McCain who lived it. It does not work, people will say anything to make it stop and most of it is not true. Do we sink down to the level of the terrorists or do we rise above acting like animals? I have seen the horrors of war and torturing even our enemies does not make me proud to be an American. I sometimes go to Albuquerque VA facility. When I see some of the men and women who have come home with horrible burns and missing limbs, I have to go outside to hide my tears and catch my breath. I only wish Cheney and George Bush can spend a day working with those brave men and women.
I only served one tour in Vietnam. As I was getting ready to be sent home, I was extended for a year. I felt I have done my duty and it was time for the Dick Cheneys to step up and do their duty. I wrote my congressmen that I had been accepted to college and was ready to get on with my life. He got me out on my regular discharge date and I started college when I got home. I also protested a war that was unjust and illegal.
Larry Berger
Cortez