U.S. Soldiers
* Referring to Robert Meyerhof’s letter congratulating the North Vietnamese for beating us (July 25), people who don’t know what they’re talking about always seem to shout the loudest.
North Vietnamese army soldiers were tough, motivated and worthy opponents. But they prevailed not because they won in the field--they didn’t--but because the United States lacked the political will to finish the job. We quit.
The cowards were those “don’t draft me” protesters who wrapped themselves in self-serving, phony “idealism” while enjoying the soft life at home. American fighting men overfed? I served as an infantry medical corpsman in Vietnam. I’m 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds when I arrived “in country” on Aug. 15, 1969. By Thanksgiving (when I was hospitalized with malaria) I weighed less than 180. Malnutrition is the common condition for men in combat.
Ignorant, sanctimonious and mean-spirited--Robert, who’s the misfit here?
MIKE ROBINSON
Fullerton
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