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closeSeveral letter writers recently claimed that we owe all our freedoms to the military. Thursday, Aug. 28 was the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Didn't he play a role in expand-ing our freedoms?
Some of our wars can be said to have protected our freedoms, but I believe most were wars of aggression. Look up what General Smedley Butler, vice-commandant of the Marine Corps from 1928 to 1931, said about his 33 years in the Marines.
Our military did not give voting rights to women, people of color and landless, poor, white men. They had to organize and sacrifice to get those rights.
When people thank me for being in Vietnam, I tell them gently that I can't accept. I can't take credit for something I don't believe I deserve. I believe I have served my country better by questioning the lies that lead us into war. There are many ways to serve.
Honest leaders will use our military to defend us. Dishonest leaders, as I believe we now have, misuse our military to steal resources. If we, soldiers and citizens, decide we've been misled, it leads to disillu-sionment. That doesn't strenghten us, it weakens us.
Bill Distler
Bellingham
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