Adultery in Armed Services

I applaud Harry G. Summers Jr. for his July 30 commentary, “Looking for a Few Good Men.” His eloquent words remind us that we as Americans should clearly see adultery for the moral offense that it is.

Truth is, we ought to care, not only that our president’s lack of self-discipline and lax policies are setting a bad example for the military, but for our young people as well. In a recent Time magazine poll on the subject of teen sex, many teens responded that they found nothing wrong with promiscuity, some stating that if Bill Clinton could get away with it, why couldn’t they? That Clinton has yet to be convicted of perjury is immaterial, given his moral history and the clarity of the current case against him.

ARLENE H. PLATTEN

Redondo Beach

* Summers writes about adultery and “the high standards to which the military holds itself.”

Ten years ago, I was in the Army stationed in a foreign country. There was underage prostitution going on across the street from the entrance to the base. During my one year there, I never heard the Army say anything about underage prostitution. The only thing I heard them say about prostitution in general was: “Use a condom.” The advice to married GIs was: “You don’t want to go home with VD.”

I listened to married E-6s brag about their sexual adventures with prostitutes. Imagine the effect of all this on a 17-year-old GI who might be an E-6 today.

MIKE MADRID

Lomita