Show some respect

Dear Editor,

As a veteran I was very moved by the recent 150th memorialization of those who have fallen in service to our country. I am 74 years old and am always moved by the stories of the fallen and the survivors. When my wife and I were in government service in Japan, we had the opportunity to visit Viet Nam. It is a beautiful if impoverished country. We had the chance to tour the
Hanoi Hilton, where John McCain was imprisoned for five and a half years. There is little left of the original prison, most was razed to make way for a high rise. What is left is a museum and a grim place. Prisoner cells were comprised of small rooms with sloping concrete floors where prisoners were shackled hand and foot between bouts of interrogation and torture. There was also a guillotine, left over from the French occupation that was mounted on a trailer so it could be taken out to the field for summary executions. A moment of hope was a room dedicated to their most well known prisoner John McCain. It was spare, mostly newspaper pictures and magazine articles about the prisoner. I am pained that a former enemy shows more respect to Senator McCain than some members of our current administration. McCain and I are in different political camps but he is, and will always be, my hero. We must show respect to the fallen, veterans, and current service members whose only job is to preserve our freedom. God bless America and those who believe in liberty.

Larry Price
Leavenworth