Opinion: Rep. Duncan Hunter doesn’t speak for all Marines when it comes to free speech

To the editor: In the fall of 1970, I was in Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico when our drill instructors took us on a long run to the front entrance of the base adjacent to its full-sized copy of the Iwo Jima memorial. There, they put us at ease allowing us to see and hear a large Vietnam war protest on the other side. Some our 200 officer candidates grew increasingly agitated over the demonstration and we were quickly called to attention. (“San Diego’s Rep. Duncan Hunter pulled down a controversial student painting from a U.S. Capitol wall,” Jan. 6)

In colorful, Marine Corps language, our commanding officer, a major, spoke eloquently about the 1st Amendment to the Constitution and reminded us that it was our duty to defend even protests against us.

Perhaps someone should remind Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), a former Marine, that all not all Marines agree with him and that his removal of painting found offensive from Capitol Hill is potentially dangerous in a democracy.

Richard J. Follett, Van Nuys

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To the editor: A winning piece of art gets pulled. I will not get into the quality of the work or take sides in the controversy, but I will criticize the reaction to it.

Our big, brave Marine, together with the police groups that found the work offensive, haven’t got the guts to face a serious problems they have. And the picture should hang on the wall right where it was to remind them of the work they must do to resolve them.

W.R. Frederick, Tarzana

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