Letter: Don't forget soldiers who gave their lives

As Will Rogers once said, "All I know is what I read in the papers." Beyond those words written long ago, I too read the papers.

When I was still in the U.S. Navy after having served three tours of duty during the Korean War and having been shot at (and thankfully missed) by the North Koreans and the Chinese communist forces, I still remember.

A kid that I grew up with, sort of, and went to grade school with, spent two years in a Chinese prison camp when they intervened into the North-South Korean conflict. He chose the U.S. Army, I chose the U.S. Navy, and we both came under Chinese fire. He's gone now, and I'm still kicking and wondering why.

Why are our President and a large part of Congress sucking up to what as a veteran I feel are still the enemies?

Consider the recent trade deal passed by the House and urged by the president on this Memorial Day.

No revenge here, just a little remembrance.

By the way, since the major news has shined it off, an old Associated Press item says that after the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, the Chinese government claimed that they had sent at least 300,000 Chinese regulars to Vietnam to help with that communist cause.

Our Congressman and fellow veteran Jim Gibbons voted against this preferred trade bill and that is one reason I'll vote for him in the next election.

The casualty toll adds up in these so-called interventional wars; Korea, Vietnam, Granada, Panama, African nations, Bosnia, where do we go from here?

To me, it seems a sorry waste of young lives.

JOHN PATTON

Wellington