The war in Iraq has had the effect of polarizing us as a nation and as a community.

One of the most difficult lessons to be learned is how to live a life true to one’s deeply held convictions and yet still honor the integrity and humanity of those who chose quite different forms of action and allegiance.

I was moved by the picture and the story about the sadness and drama in the lives of Dot Picard and her son, Joshua Gould, who is now guarding bombs in Iraq (March 22).

As a father and a son, “Miss you Mom” (or Dad) is a message that touches me at my most basic human level.

The message that Joshua Gould has chosen to inscribe on the bombs he guards, however, “To Saddam Hussein from Lewiston-Auburn,” is equality evocative for me of great emotion and sadness.

As I pray to keep Joshua out of harm’s way, so do I also testify to all the potential victims of this weapon that at least one member of this community never wished to have his name inscribed on the instrument of their death.

Kirk Read, Auburn


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