Letters

The Horrors of War, Revisited

Candice Reed should not feel bad about learning of her father’s experiences in war (“One Voice From the Jungle,” Essay, June 27). Most everybody was too busy to hear our stories when we returned from Vietnam. They have context now, after tales of torture in Iraq have emerged.

I assisted in a four-hour surgery to save the life of a North Vietnamese Army captain in 1971. As I walked back through the ward to the hooch after my 12-hour shift, I heard bloodcurdling screams coming from his bed. Two “Black Berets,” one Vietnamese and one American, were torturing the captain for information. Guards prevented me from getting closer.

The next day, I asked about our “patient.” I was told, “He fell out of a helicopter.” The reality is that U.S. policy has always included any means to achieve its goals. Government officials who feign shock over prisoner “mistreatment” make me gag. They need to tell the truth when they run for office so that people can vote on whether they wish to continue an American policy of inhumane treatment. Candice, tell your father’s story loud and clear so the truth can be known.

Thomas F. Joliet

Laguna Beach