Letter to the Editor

    Dear Editor:

   After reading the editorial in the Sept. 11 Collegian, “I MUST protest.”

   While I would agree that sometimes our government is too quick to solve problems using military force, some of the other statements are born of youth and ignorance.

   For example,“We should all find the misinformed public’s glorification of war alarming” referring to war veterans’ speaking with school children. Who is the last person who wants to go to war? The soldiers—the ones who WAGE war. They’ll be where the bullets fly. The explosions are real, and no one gets a re-play.

   “We must stop teaching our youth that war is acceptable and that being a killer is honorable.” No war is acceptable; to believe otherwise is insanity. But to forget that wars DO happen and how would be inviting tragedy in the future. Understanding how wars happen enlightens us to resolutions before they happen again.

   I am a combat veteran ... not a killer. I went, and I saw, heard, smelled, tasted all those things you do not get from a movie or a newsreel on CNN. I did it for my and your future … that we might have a society where opinions are open and free.

Sgt. Ralph Jeffries
SE Campus
SSG/USA Ret.