Letters to the Editor 3/13/2003

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 12, 2003

Troops need our support

Dear Editor:

It has to be lonely being "at the top" especially when "at the top" is being President of The United States as is now the case with President George W. Bush. He has to make the decision whether to take the offensive to keep America free or sit back and watch some American city possibly become a smoking hole at the hands of terrorists.

He is not the only one that is lonely and that person – the American fighting man or woman –

is "not at the top" but is right in the middle if the middle can be called being at the front door of Iraq facing the unknown – possibility chemical and biological weapons or worse. That soldier, sailor, marine or airman does not have a voice at the present as does members of the United Nations, antiwar protestors, naive Hollywood actors, et al. That soldier sits alone in a tent in Kuwait while a sand storm rages outside. But, that soldier is waiting, watching and thinking! He or she knows that all of America is not behind him or her. How does he or she know this? Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy, a member of "The Party of the French", said that he and others like him are against America ridding the world of the murdering, maniac, madman Saddam Hussein. They want appeasement!

Take it from this Vietnam War veteran who has been there, done that; it is a a sickening feeling! Knowing that you are about to offer your life in the defense of freedom for the folks back home while some of those folks spit on you and call you baby killers is a mind-heart-gut wrenching experience! That is what happened during the Vietnam War when America was not attacked directly. This time America has been attacked directly.

So American citizen? Whose side are you on? Remember! That soldier, sailor, Marine or airman is out there offering to give his or her life so that you will not be a smoldering ember!

John B. Givhan

Andalusia