ANTI-TIMES, ANTI-’PLATOON,’ ANTI-WAR, ANTI-JANE

At the time of its occurrence, the Vietnam War was generally regarded as a shameful, horrible fiasco. Today (witness “Platoon,” et al.), the war is viewed in retrospect as having engendered its participants with a certain tragic-heroic nobility.

It is a tribute to the human spirit that only pleasant memories perrsist. I look forward to the day when we all remember the Vietnam War as actually having been fun. Perhaps a “Hogan’s Heroes”-type spin-off will herald the return of the casual bravado that made it all possible in the first place.

GEORGE NATALY

Los Angeles