I’ve missed several opportunities to thank the troops in person for their service. In the past few years I’ve seen young men and women in uniform at airports and even sat beside one young man in uniform at one of the airport gates. I thought about saying thank you, but didn’t and now I regret that I failed to make that simple gesture.

I am opposed to the Iraq War and I am angry with and blame the administration and Congress for putting us there. But above all I am angry with and blame all of us for our continued addiction to foreign oil which necessitates our using force to maintain this addiction; this need to use force will be heightened as competition increases with China, India and other countries hungry for this limited resource.

So if I have the opportunity again to thank the troops in person, I will. No politics involved – just a sincere, heartfelt, “thank-you.” There is no gray area for me as Carl A. Chase’s op-ed piece, “A gray area of thanking the troops” (BDN, Jan. 18) suggests and it may not be with the patriotic fervor that Jim Cyr showed in his op-ed article “Troops show bravery beyond description” (BDN, Jan 10).

The troops are in Iraq because that is where we sent them. They are doing the job we told them to do and they are showing bravery beyond description.

Karen Jo Young

Corea