The Sun Journal articles about Echo Company (Aug. 16-18) brought tears to my eyes as it stirred memories of another Echo Company from 1968. The description of the young Marines put faces on a cold casualty list. I knew such men, or should I say, boys. Of the 11 of us sent to Echo Company, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division as replacements in April 1968, six were killed and the rest sustained wounds by May 1969. I felt their lives were squandered then, just as I feel the brave lives of our people in Iraq are being squandered now.
Next year our country could experience another draft and many of our young people ages 18 to 26 could be called up to fill the needs for defense. Poor planning in 1968 and poor planning now by a Pentagon used to playing video games with high-tech military toys has not changed.
We need to change something to change the outcome. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have been around for almost four decades and have experienced many of our small wars besides the Vietnam War. Time for a change.
Ray Pineau, Jay
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