trb@drux3.UUCP (01/12/84)
The following letter to the editor appeared in the 1/11/84
Rocky Mountain News, written by a good friend of mine. I
think it should be posted to the net to add another dimension
to the discussion.
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Editor: The Rev. Jesse Jackson did not want Lt. Robert Goodman to
become a "sacrificial lamb in an undeclared and unauthorized war."
I admire Jackson for such outspokenness. However, I would like to
ask him: What have our 2,500 men still unaccounted for in Vietnam
become? After all, that was an undeclared war - wasn't it? Why
does Jackson believe that *one* man can be a "catalyst for war or
peace"? Is one man able to do what 2,500 men are incapable of
doing?
Jackson could have saved himself a trip if he had just remembered
the following: Our policy in Vietnam was to quit, go home and be
happy with the ones who came back.
If Jackson had been patient, the news media would have allowed
the American people to forget Goodman as they have the men in
Vietnam. The administration will probably use the same tactics
in Lebanon as it did in Vietnam - simply stamp personal records
from POW to MIA to KIA (killed in action).
Perhaps Jackson could use a three-point sermon outline to convey
a message:
- Human sacrifice
- Political sacrifice
- Forgotten sacrifice
Rick Blumenthal
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Tom Buckley