Slings and Arrows in the 40th Congressional District Race

As a former Army officer I am hurt and angered by the charges that 40th District Rep. Robert E. Badham has leveled against his Republican opponent Nathan Rosenberg.

Rosenberg served as a Navy officer on the staff of Secretary of Defense Harold Brown in the late 1970s. According to Badham this is shameful because it was an era when our defenses were at a low ebb.

It was a bad time. I know. I was an Army captain at the Pentagon 1977-1980. But I am not ashamed of my service as Badham thinks I should be. Of course most of us could have simply resigned our commissions and taken lucrative civilian jobs. But if we didn’t stick it out, who would have maintained the forces we did have?

Is Badham unaware of military realities? Or does he regard the veterans who kept the faith as so despicable that slandering all our reputations is just politics as usual?

MAURIE GREEN

Seal Beach