Joe Louis

* The Joe Louis commemorative stamp is a deserved honor to a great American. Joe Louis Barrow Jr.’s “Celebrating an Unsung Legacy” (Commentary, June 22) is a proper tribute to his father. In it he says how much Joe Louis meant to those of all races and colors who struggled against poverty and discrimination. I would only like to add to that, as one who never struggled against either, he was as much my hero as anyone’s. I heard every one of his great fights on radio.

What I remember best, however, was an incident that occurred when he was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1942. The army then was as segregated as Mississippi or Alabama, as was the nation’s capital. The very beginnings of the civil rights movement were a generation away. A reporter asked Joe why he was willing to fight for a government that treated his people the way the United States did. Joe answered, “There ain’t nuthin’ wrong with this country that Hitler can fix.”

Those are golden words. They deserve to be placed alongside those of another great fighter, Winston Churchill.

HARRY V. JAFFA

President, Winston S. Churchill Assn.

Claremont