Letters

High adulation was earned by WWII veterans

Charles Preston should concentrate on writing crossword puzzles. His opinion piece ("Over the top over World War II," July 23) about recent World War II books struck a sour note with me.

My father was a corpsman with the US Marines on Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Iwo Jima. I'm sure he had sufficient time to think about why he was fighting during the intervals between those campaigns. As he has told me many times, his service was then and still is a source of extreme personal pride. He may not have used Tom Brokaw's "gaseous sentiments" to describe his service from 1943 to 1945, but Pearl Harbor galvanized and inspired him.

If Mr. Preston had entered any Marine barrack in 1944 and expressed what he wrote, my guess is that a lot of fast talking would have been required on his part to avert injury.

To denigrate my father's patriotic emotions and his contributions by emphasizing our allies' contributions to the war completely baffles me. To accuse World War II veterans of Muhammad Ali-style braggadocio insults combat veterans for no good reason. To borrow a phrase, Preston should "tell it to the Marines."

Michael L. Waldron

Burke, Va.

While it's true that Democrats currently trail the GOP in fundraising overall, Democratic pro-choice female candidates are often better financed than their Republican counterparts ("Why Democrats trail GOP in fundraising," July 23). This is particularly the case when these Democratic women are running for winnable, open seats, and are backed by the major pro-choice fundraisers, EMILY's List and the bipartisan Women's Campaign Fund.

George A. Dean

Southport, Conn.

I take issue with your July 26 editorial in support of Dan Rather's restraint on the coverage of the Condit affair ("Rather restrained"). There is a difference between reporting on a story that exists and devoting six hours each evening to it.Mr. Rather's not reporting this huge thing in front of him became the story, or at least part of it. To pump him up on this is, I believe, incorrect.

Larry Bindl Bay

St. Louis

Your article "Where personality is in the bag" (July 25) reminded me that in the past few years my perception of what constitutes basic needs and luxurious wants has undergone a major shift. I've had the good fortune of fundraising for land in Guatemala and then taking groups there to build homes in partnership with the very poor. Now when someone says, "It's only $300," I think, "That would buy a lot in Guatemala."

One thousand dollars for a handbag? That would provide a sturdy home for an entire family!

Betty Neville Michelozzi

Corralitos, Calif.

In his July 26 column ("Bush's bold pledge to help the world's poor"), Peter Hakim lauds President Bush's efforts to rally world support for programs to alleviate world poverty. The moral imperative of free trade that President Bush is so ready to emphasize should receive no more attention than the hardship some Americans encounter when trade barriers are lowered and ultimately removed. Without a domestic strategy to respond to such problems, free trade objectives lack the political viability they urgently need.

David J. Steinberg

Alexandria, Va.

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