Letters: Nov. 17, 1967

Faithful in Their Fashion

Sir: It was refreshing to read a crisp, smog-free Essay on patriotism in these United States [Nov. 10]. I belong to a rather ambiguous generation, many of whom have forgotten what it is all about. The draft dissenters wade through the crumpled bubble-gum wrappers on the streets of our cities waving signs and mumbling chants, but it is the men "over there" that must wade through the muck and mire of war as it really is.

Having someone you love on the other side of the world makes you realize what it is all about, and getting a lump in your throat is telling it like it really is. KIT CHAMBERLAIN Grosse Pointe, Mich.

Sir: I find it encouraging that the conscience of today's youth is expanding, that we are concerned with making our country worthy of being loved. Many good Americans do not find it necessary to constantly reaffirm their loyalty, but patriotism is latent in most of us today—even those who demonstrate their dissent so adamantly. CHASE WEBB San Francisco

Sir: You have correctly identified true American patriotism grounded in the purest motives and motivated by the loftiest ideas. Pity that we are blind to the truth and have not the ability poetically bemoaned by Robert Burns to see ourselves as others see us. THE REV. W. EUGENE HOUSTON Manhattan

Sir: May TIME'S trenchant elucidation of patriotism pay tribute to our fighting and dying men in Southeast Asia; may it thunder bolts of ridicule and scorn on the ever-increasing numbers of extreme dissenters who question America's so-called entanglement there.

To these malcontents, listen to the immortal words of Hilaire Belloc: "They died to save their country and they only saved the world." JAMES M. BOUSHAY Lockport, Ill.

Sir: Love of country requires criticism when it appears to be warranted. Criticism is carried out according to one's abilities and modes of expression. Adults criticize verbally; children rage and break things. When verbalization moves our country's course absolutely nowhere, why is it assumed that the storming of the Pentagon was not largely the raging and breaking of children, many of them intensely in love with their country? POLLY BOHMFALK Dallas

Sir: Patriotism is alive and well at Con Thien. KENNETH F. STRICKLAND Captain, U.S.A.F. Hampton, Va.

Seniors at the Center

Sir: Three cheers for the voices of sanity: Citizens Committee for Peace with Freedom in Viet Nam [Nov. 3]. The riff-raff have held center stage long enough and their performances grow more sickeningly disgusting with every added publicity stunt. It is heartening indeed that some of our forthright and knowledgeable leaders have taken the initiative in speaking for the vast majority. BEATRICE PUNG St. Johns, Mich.

Sir: You state, "If the silent center in the U.S. can find an effective voice, through the new Citizens Committee . . ." For "silent center" read "senior citizen" apropos of the ages of the founders: Dean Acheson, 74; Omar Bradley, 74; James F. Byrnes, 88; Lucius Clay, 70; James Bryant Conant, 74; Paul Douglas, 75; Dwight Eisenhower, 77; Harry Truman, 83, etc. EVERETT THIELE Baltimore