Letters: Oct. 24, 1969

Oh, How We Cheered

Sir: I recall that, not so long ago, a young President stated that "we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." And oh, how we cheered.

Let history record that on Oct. 15, an alarming portion of my generation and a significant number of an older generation who ought to know better, converged on Washington to finally repudiate those words because, alas, in a remote corner of the globe, the price had indeed become too high, the burden too heavy, the hardship too great and the foe too strong.

And so the demonstrators march, and work for a peace in the spirit of Chamberlain, while many of my friends fight and die in the only spirit America has really ever known—that of self-sacrifice, courage and determination—for a hard and bitter peace, dare I say, a peace with honor. It will be a sad day when, as a nation, we can be satisfied with less.

CHARLES J. MYSAK, '72 George Washington University Washington, D.C.

Sir: I wholeheartedly agree with those who demand an immediate, 100% withdrawal of our troops from Viet Nam. The war has been lost. Lyndon Johnson's capitulation in March 1968 merely served to punctuate the defeat. From that day forward, the future of the people of South Viet Nam was no longer at issue.

The Communist victory was not won at Chu Lai, Danang or Bien Hoa, or at any of those now not so strange sounding places. The victory was won exactly where Ho Chi Minh had known and said it would be won, in the hearts and minds of the American people: "The people of the United States do not have the determination to persevere in the struggle in Southeast Asia. When they grow tired of fighting, we will still be here."

Yes, I join in the protest. I protest in the name of those who have given their lives in vain. In the name of those who believe all men have the right to self-determination, in the name of those who believe that no man is free until all men are free.

CHARLES M. FREELAND Dyer, Ind.

Sir: When I arrived at Yale for the beginning of the academic year, I said to myself, "Marty, in no way whatsoever will you let yourself be affected by the new coeds." Thus when Mr. Nixon rephrased my sentiments in regard to the Oct. 15 Moratorium, I could sympathize with him. But demonstrations, like girls, have their own particular warmth and, I might add, their own effect. It's going to be a long year for both of us, Mr. President.

MARTIN FEIGENBAUM, '72 Yale College New Haven, Conn.

Sir: How about the class of '73? Glance through TIME and read about the war, Judge Haynsworth, the Green Berets, the Chicago trials, the hippie hunting, the Russian Jews and the Czechs. Then see if you don't feel a little disgusted with the status quo and the people who make the policies that determine how the rest of the world will live, if at all.

BILL ABBOTT, '73 Michigan State University East Lansing, Mich.

Mood of the Middle