In memory of wars’ dead

Re “In memoriam,” editorial, May 26

Thank you for your Memorial Day tribute to those who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But abstract words like “freedom” and “country” fail to fully convey the motivation of those who sacrificed everything.

Ask almost any veteran and they’ll tell you that, although they may have signed up for freedom, liberty or country, what ultimately motivates them is defending the lives of their buddies. The Bible says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

This is what they sacrifice their lives for -- love. And there is nothing more noble than that.

Steve Mills

Glendale

Although your Memorial Day editorial comment claimed to set aside politics, I’m afraid its brief phrasing was quite political. To suggest that those whose names were listed had died “in defense of this country and its freedoms” is to accept the irrational rhetoric used in launching these wars.

It begs credulity to suggest that the war against Iraq was either a defense of this country or its freedoms. It was neither.

To claim otherwise is an insult to the many Americans who tried to point this out before the war began.

George Dutton

Los Angeles

I intend to send these pages to President Bush as a wake-up call to tell him that too many of our men and women are paying too high a price for an unwinnable war.

My hope is that everyone who reads your paper will send the same pages to either Bush or John McCain, making the statement that enough is enough.

Lori Graham

Los Angeles