As a 20-year veteran – with two years in Vietnam – a proud American and patriot, I must speak out. Now is not the time to pull our servicemen out of Iraq. This is not how we show support for our troops. Let these brave men do their jobs. I saw many of my men and friends die in Vietnam for nothing. It was demoralizing.

We left the South Vietnamese people to die at the hands of the communist north. We lost 58,000 Americans and ran. Mismanagement by the Defense Department and our presidents and pressures of anti-war groups who thought freedom was free caused us to let the Vietnamese people down. If we want other countries to trust America, we cannot run when the going gets tough.

Fight the people who want us dead wherever we find them; or, we surely pay dearly in blood in our homeland. Remember Pan Am 103, the World Trade Center, the Marine barracks in Lebanon, military barracks in Saudi Arabia, American embassies in Africa, the USS Cole and 9-11?

We are in Iraq and we have to complete the job. Do not let your negative emotions cause our servicemen to fail. The armed services know how to fight wars. Stop telling them how to do their jobs.

Iraq must be successful or the following will happen:

. Anyone still in Iraq who supported freedom will die.

. Free people will never trust the United States again.

. Our soldiers’ morale will be lower then when we failed in Vietnam.

Be patient, peace takes time. Get off the president’s back. We do not live in a dictatorship.

Charles B. Knowlen

Eddington