POWs

I am bemused by the celebrity treatment afforded the liberated POWs and their next of kin (May 3).

It requires neither skill nor courage to be taken prisoner. It is the fortunes of war. I know because I was captured in World War II, as were tens of thousands of other young Americans. We received no special attention when we returned home, nor did we expect it. During the final stage of our return home, by train from New Jersey to Texas, there were some fireworks along the way. We did not take it personally. It was the Fourth of July.

DAVID WESTHEIMER

Los Angeles