Letters: Jun. 3, 1966

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Tempering the Wind

Sir: TIME'S thoughtful Essay on Red China [May 20] should do much to temper the rantings of the bomb-'em-now crowd. It brings hope that China might yet, given another generation, become a world neighbor again.

MILTON S. KATZ Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Sir: It is unwise to boast that "the U.S. knows more about Red China than does any other nation, with the possible exception of the Soviet Union." Probably Sinologists in America have collected more facts about the physical aspects of China than have Sinologists elsewhere. But Chinese national psychology is far more important than any other factor in understanding the Chinese and other ethnic groups in Asia. China's perverted national psychology—anxiety to prove the myth of "center of the world," suspicion against the former "imperialists," and frustration at having been an underdog—cannot be easily understood or readily compensated for by those who have never had a similar experience.

HAK INN RHEE Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, Mich.

The Iceman Cometh

Sir: Fulbright's accusations about Saigon as a "brothel" [May 13] are the last straw. I have been stationed all over Viet Nam, and I am positive it would be most unusual to "hear a report that a Vietnamese soldier has committed suicide out of shame because his wife has been working as a bar girl." I strongly advise Fulbright to come to Viet Nam and see for himself before he gets in over his head with his faulty and ambiguous statements about the dying youth of America and their behavior in time of war. Washington's biggest problem concerning G.I.s in Viet Nam is their morale. It is not unlike the problem the U.S. had in the Korean War, and the good Senator isn't helping one bit.

(PFC.) JOSEPH P. NYE JR. U.S.M.C. Hué, South Viet Nam

Sir: Following your guide, I called FRANKLIN 4-2181, Little Rock. A gruff voice answered in response to my request for "Rocket": "You have wrong number." Maybe the ice has melted.

C. W. CRAVEN Arlington, Va.

The Other Side of the Story

Sir: The two dedicated Michigan physicians referred to in "Volunteers for Viet Nam" [May 20], Hugh Sulfridge and Hugh Caumartin are from Saginaw, Mich. Evidence of what this city thinks of them: they were given $2,000 by one of the churches to buy medical supplies and equipment, and more than $1,000 worth of Chloromycetin has been shipped to Viet Nam, paid for by popular subscription.

CARL G. KING Executive Secretary Saginaw County Medical Society Saginaw, Mich.

Sir: You might be interested in our five-year-old Holy Family Hospital in Qui Nhon. It is staffed by eleven Medical Mission Sisters, among them the only American Catholic Sisters working in Viet Nam. Their services include surgery and obstetrics. A venture, started by a Protestant Army chaplain and his unit with the hospital, has been labeled "Operation Harelip." For the past few months, the men have been bringing Vietnamese children with harelips to the hospital, passing the hat to cover the expenses of corrective surgery performed by Sister M. Virginia Sayers, M.D., of Toledo, Ohio.

SISTER BERNADETTE MARIE, SCMM Medical Mission Sisters Philadelphia

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