To the Editors:

Your Essay regarding Viet Nam [June 1] and its veterans was probably the most powerful and thoughtful piece I have read on the subject. If we fail to learn from the lesson of Viet Nam, we will have salvaged nothing from our debacle. We will have gained no wisdom from our pain and allowed our fear and ignorance to pave the way for future tragedies.

Igor Bobrowsky, Editor

Newsletter of Viet Nam Veterans

of America

New York

In 1971 I served in Viet Nam. Ten years later, I am finally coming to grips with my participation in that war. One of my fantasies is to walk down the street, have a total stranger ask if I'm a Viet vet, and have him say, "Welcome home."

David Sajdak Chicago

When I returned home, a young woman, upon learning I was a Viet Nam veteran, spit at me in disgust. Two weeks before, deep in the jungles of Viet Nam, I had lived like an animal trained to kill at the first provocation. Yet all I could do was stare at this woman in shock.

Edward F. Avila Auburn, Calif.

If the image and morale of Viet vets is ever to improve, we should hear less from veterans mired in needless self-hatred. Despite its failure, the Viet Nam War was probably the most idealistic campaign ever conducted. As an infantry vet, I believe the examples of civilians mistreated by soldiers were outnumbered 100 to 1 by examples of helpfulness and self-sacrifice.

John B. Donovan Larchmont, N. Y.

Thanks to the hostage crisis, something dark and evil was brought back to me--something I thought I'd forgotten and left behind me: hate. Try hating your country and see how you handle it.

Gary J. Stafford Wausau, Wis.

I opposed the war in Viet Nam. I demonstrated, was teargassed, organized in the precincts, wrote letters and wore buttons. In the past decade I have felt only an increasing sense of comradeship with Viet Nam veterans.

Mary Peterson York, Me.

I am one of the doves who did not go and now am faced with guilt. Like the hostages, the Viet Nam vet took our place. Unlike the hostages, the veteran still hasn't been released.

Bruce McAllister Redlands, Calif.

When Folk Singer Harry Chapin sings, "Does anybody care? Is anybody there?" I say, we are here and listening. The House will accept our subcommittee's recommendation to extend readjustment counseling as well as medical and job-training benefits for Viet Nam vets. In war there are no unwounded soldiers.

Bob Edgar, Chairman

House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee

on Education

Washington, D.C.

I can speak for most Nam vets: we don't want to be thanked for doing as our nation asked. We want to stop being hassled for having been there.

Harvey Gobin Alachua, Fla.

As a veteran of the Viet Nam conflict, I was not traumatized by my experiences in the war. I was traumatized by the utter indifference of Americans to those who returned.

John A. O'Gavaghan Jamesville, N. Y.

I spent three tours in Viet Nam as an adviser to the South Vietnamese. Our troops didn't "lose" the war. Washington never allowed us to win it!

Michael K. Button Hartford, Conn.

Broken Heart

The majority of heart disease deaths occur before a patient reaches a hospital [June 1]. Significant improvement in the heart attack victim's survival rate has been reported when electrical treatment in conjunction with cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered within eight minutes of cardiac arrest. Wide availability of a device enabling medically authorized lay people to give appropriate electrical treatment may have enormous life-saving potential.

Alfred Lars Aronson, M.D. Secaucus, N.J.

My father has had degenerative heart disease, and he was advised to eat salt-free foods. But there is practically no way to avoid salt in American processed foods so long as the food industry uses salt as a primary additive.

Patricia A. Zaruba Turnersville, N.J.

It was unfortunate that your article put its total focus on medication and surgery. One of the newest forms of treating heart disease is cardiac rehabilitation, which focuses not only on heart patients' physical well-being but also on their vocational and emotional status.

Gail Handysides, R.N. Stoneham, Mass.

I am dismayed that you displayed no cynicism for some of this costly high technology, particularly the artificial heart. This technique cannot possibly have any impact on the disease. It benefits a small minority and serves only to stroke the egos of the doctors who pursue this blind alley.

Julian M. Whitaker, M.D. Huntington Beach, Calif.

Formula Feeding

The U.S.'s one dissenting vote against the WHO'S infant-formula resolution [June 1] announces to citizens of underdeveloped countries what they must have known all along: "We care more about your money than about your lives."

Thomas P. Wharton Jr. Needham, Mass.

How ironic that Mr. Reagan would protect the embryos in women's bodies but not the babes in their arms!

Carol Corbett Burris Houston

Even in the most affluent segments of our society, breast feeding can be expected to reduce significantly serious infantile diarrhea, respiratory disease and allergy. Unfortunately, a large portion of the public still believes that proprietary formula combined with proper refrigeration, sterilization and other hygienic measures can safely replace human milk.

William P. Fleming, M.D.

U.S. Public Health Service Gallup, N. Mex.

I have seen the tragic consequences of improper formula mixing. I am outraged that the Administration has allowed the interests of the manufacturers to prevail and has refused to support the proposed restrictions on the advertising and marketing of formula.

Paul V. Catalana, M.D. Greenville, S.C.

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