Letters to the Editor: Military veterans on the attacks on Tim Walz’s National Guard service

To the editor: Whenever I am asked about my 1971-72 service in Vietnam, I point out that I never saw combat. This reflects the respect that most veterans share for the heroes who served on the front lines. (“This is what makes JD Vance’s attempt to ‘Swift-boat’ Tim Walz’s military service so pathetic,” Opinion, Aug. 11.)

I am not surprised that Robin Abcarian, an opinion columnist, does not appreciate the importance of this distinction. But Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee who is longtime veteran of the Army National Guard, certainly does.

That is why it is legitimate to criticize him for being less than candid about the limits on his own service.

Robert Loewen, Laguna Beach

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To the editor: As a Vietnam War-era veteran, I have always been disgusted that former President Trump dodged the draft based on a supposed condition (heel bone spurs), which he most assuredly would have ridiculed if someone other than himself had used that same “get out of military service” card.

Even former President George W. Bush put on a uniform, albeit using connections that only the very privileged possessed to get into a National Guard unit. This plum assignment guaranteed he would not be sent to Vietnam.

But just as Bush’s supporters attacked war hero Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004, Trump and Vance have gone after Walz’s military record.

Trump has displayed the ultimate chutzpah in the past with his shameless denigration of war heroes and reportedly calling those killed in combat “losers” and “suckers” and opposing the inclusion of wounded veterans in parades.

Agustin Medina, South Pasadena

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To the editor: Having served as a draftee in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, I was tasked with the daily operation of a typewriter. Still, I was trained in the use of weapons of war and could have been called upon to use them at any time during my conscription, I was told.

Carrying weapons “in war,” as Walz has so stated about his own military service, merely refers to the duty men and women in uniform have in wartime.

Ronald Bitzer, North Hollywood