Letters: Oct. 31, 1969

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Who Knows?

Sir: So now housewives know it, Wall Street lawyers know it, college presidents and students know it, politicians and generals know it, Congressmen and businessmen know it, I even think President Nixon knows it: America wants peace [Oct. 17]! ANNE WEISS Los Angeles

Sir: I opened TIME and saw the young battle-weary trooper, and I wept openly. Why must this young man be in such a position? He did not ask for Viet Nam. Why must some be called upon for such a sacrifice? Do we care enough? Some of these fine men are not even old enough to vote, yet they are asked to give their lives for a war that seems endless. God help us to care, and most of all, to end this senseless mess in Viet Nam.

EVELYN B. MARTIN Colorado Springs, Colo.

Sir: I would like to say thank you to all those "brave" Americans who participated in the War Moratorium. Thank you for showing us, the men you have sent over here, that we have your support. The next thing you could do is take our weapons away. That will undoubtedly stop the war. Then you can have another Moratorium, one that will really mourn the dead Americans. I hope you realize how many men you have killed because you took their will to fight away.

EDWARD J. SCARES JR. Lieutenant, U.S.A. A.P.O., San Francisco

Sir: The nationwide Moratorium has come and gone, with its excellent emphasis on peace. But one wonders why so many people only protested the U.S. involvement yet said not a whisper about Hanoi's atrocities past or present. Maybe, in order to balance the books a bit, there ought to be a second Moratorium Day showing support for this nation's attempts to secure an honorable and just peace.

JOSEPH H. PICKERING JR. Nahant, Mass.

Sir: You have charged that President Nixon's statement with regard to the Oct. 15 Moratorium, "Under no circumstances will I be affected whatever by it," was "a serious mistake." This is only true if you warp the intention of a statement obviously made to discourage the Communist leadership in Hanoi. It is indeed ironic that this statement, made to reassure and encourage both our American forces and our South Vietnamese allies dying abroad, should discredit him so with those protesting from the safety of their homes.

FREDERICK C. SMITH, '73 Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, Pa.

Sir: Which battlefield will historians regard as the true scene of this "first American military defeat"—Viet Nam or the college campus?

LABEL SHARFMAN Jerusalem, Israel

Sir: I worked in Viet Nam for almost two years. I had many good friends, Vietnamese and Americans, die there. I believe I can honestly say that I hate the war and wish it could stop now! But this Moratorium bit makes me sick. It makes me want to stand and yell . . . but what? How can anyone yell for a war that is so terrible? I was going to say terrible and senseless, but it isn't senseless. Let's publicly admit it. We have contained China. Had we not gone into Viet Nam I am certain that China would now have full power of some type over all of Southeast Asia and would right now be looking toward South America as her next sphere of influence.