Letters: Jul. 22, 1966

Show of Teeth

Sir: Defense Secretary McNamara [July 8] is a monstrous man, catalyst for the fusion of U.S. industrial and military might into an instrument designed for world hegemony and destined for moral and material perdition. Can't a voice be raised in support of the ideals on which this nation was founded and nurtured for almost two centuries?

E. C. PLUNKETT Elmira, N.Y.

Sir: McNamara is a modern-day Patrick Henry who uses mathematics, logic and intestinal fortitude to preserve the very heart of this great country.

EUGENE KRZEMINSKI Grand Rapids, Mich.

Sir: The bombing of Hanoi-Haiphong POL areas was long overdue. Had we done this months ago, or even two years ago, many lives would undoubtedly have been spared. The time has come for the U.S. to stop playing a cat-and-mouse game with the North Vietnamese; we must show our teeth, since this seems to be the only language they understand.

PAUL S. SCHUELLER Brooklyn

Sir: One of the serious fallacies of Administration policy is the belief that bombing raids will drive the N.L.F. to negotiation. If the Soviet Union were dropping bombs on our oil reserves around New York City, we would fight to the last man, however hopeless the battle, before making concessions to our enemy. It seems foolhardy not to assume equal determination in the North Vietnamese.

JOHN HOLDEN THORNE New York City

Sir: I was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1920. In July 1943, I lost members of my family, friends and my home through Anglo-American air raids, which almost destroyed my home town. These raids on Hamburg and other German cities, terrifying and hate-inspiring as they were at the time, played a decisive role in destroying Hitler's totalitarianism. Now I am a Canadian citizen. I am firmly convinced that my present religious and political freedom are owed directly to American participation in World War II. I do not envy President Johnson's position as far as the war in Viet Nam is concerned, but I understand and support his decisions.

HERMANN NOELLE Hamburg, Germany

Still Drafty

Sir: Letter Writer Buckner [July 1] is a naive fellow. Certainly we are not fighting solely "so college kids can go to school," but that reason would rate somewhere on the list if servicemen made lists of such things. We are fighting, yes, because we have to, for the same reasons our fathers had to. We are fighting because our Commander in Chief believes that we are the best instrument for carrying out national policy.

(S/SGT) H. J. PINTO JR. U.S.M.C. Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Sir: Today's college students are the engineers who will build the helicopters that evacuate the wounded from battle in Viet Nam. They are the doctors who will save the lives of the injured. They are the social scientists who will help make a viable country out of war-torn Viet Nam. They are the lawyers and political scientists who will be architects of peace. To sacrifice their lives to a sniper's bullet in the cause of "fairness" or "equality" is to defeat our purpose in being in Viet Nam.

PETER BENJAMIN M.I.T. Cambridge, Mass.

Sir: My country is at war; therefore I must be at war.

(SP4) JUSTIN J. STONE Viet Nam

Does History Repeat?