After reading the letter about not finding anything honorable nor humane about a talk at a Veteran's Day assembly at Ferndale High School, where a young veteran spoke of his split-second decision to defend his fellow soldiers over the lives of two children, while it is saddening that this young man had to make this decision, to say that his message was not honorable is typical of a person who has never served in the U.S. military. The men and women that you serve along side of while in the military become a second family to you. It is not possible to serve in combat, in the conditions that are occurring in our country's fight in Afghanistan, for our armed forces to sit around the campfire, singing Kumbaya and feeling all warm and at peace with the world. Our military is trained to fight as a unit and to look out for each other. If you don't take care of your fellow troops, in the middle of a fire fight, then most of you will be killed. He followed his training and helped protect his fellow soldiers. Combat is not about making sure everybody is all cozy and comfortable, it is about trying to insure as many of you survive and fulfill the mission you have been ordered to accomplish. Try an enlistment in the military, yourself, and see, then, if you still would risk your comrades lives, just in case those little kids are not really walking bombs trying to die for their religion.

Dave Smith

Bellingham