Your editorial article titled, “Veterans’ Day should honor young soldiers” (ODE, Nov. 11) missed a couple of basic points. The first is, “For soldiers involved in … reconstruction of Iraq, a bad day means dodging bullets.” As a veteran, I know what a bad day for a soldier consists of, and it surely isn’t dodging bullets. A bad day is failing to dodge a bullet. A day of successful dodging is a good day. A great day is sitting in rainy Eugene writing this correction. By the way, a really bad day is administering first aid to a friend and colleague who’s having a bad day. I understand this seems counterintuitive to many. If you desire an explanation, I suggest you try a novel journalistic approach and actually interview a veteran before placing a pen to paper.
The second is, “… hailed from Orangeburg, a South Carolina town of about 13,000 — became the third graduate of the town’s only high school to die … in Iraq since August,” and the next sentence, “At Orangeburg-Wilkinson High, 85 percent of the students qualify for discounted or free lunches, making the military a more realistic immediate option for many students than a four-year college program.” Your inference seems clear. Poor people go into the military because they can’t go to college. While this is certainly true in some cases, this is the exception and not the rule. Most young people join the military for altruistic reasons, love of country and a sense of patriotic duty to name a couple. Again, I understand that some of your readers and perhaps your editorial staff cannot or will not understand. Again I offer my previous advice.
At a minimum, your column should have focused on the accomplishments and sacrifices of our young veterans as its title suggested. I would also liked to have seen something about how much each of us benefits from those sacrifices regardless of our political leanings. Instead, your column was full of backhanded compliments. As a veteran, thanks for nothing.