J.F.K.'s Legacy

To the Editors:

The greatness of John F. Kennedy does not lie in his accomplishments but in his ability to inspire ordinary men to believe that they could make the world better. Kennedy's death was a tragedy because it denied Americans the chance to find out if we really were capable of improving life on this earth.

Ann J. Gould Cranston, R.I.

If Kennedy is mostly a myth, he is a myth our country needed and will continue to need.

Sally Hill Montgomery, Ala.

On Nov. 22, 1963, I was twelve and my fiancee was two. For me, Kennedy's death was a shattering experience that she cannot completely share. When I told her that John Jr. had saluted his father's casket, the gesture meant nothing to her. Yet that little boy's salute still stirs me. For the rest of my life, Kennedy's photograph will hang in my home. But I know that as I get older, fewer people will understand why.

Jack de Golia Yellowstone National Park, Wyo.

Perhaps the best assessment of President Kennedy is embodied in the signs carried by civil rights activists in 1962-63 reading MORE COURAGE, LESS PROFILE. Those placards referred to Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage. The sooner we accept the low estate of Kennedy's accomplishments, vision, courage and moral character, the faster we will stop deceiving ourselves.

William W. Hassler Annandale, Va.

Why, after 20 years, do we continue to hope for a different end to the story?

Robert W. Easter San Diego

In your reference to the Presidential Performance Study, I notice that you omitted Dwight Eisenhower from the list of "above-average" Presidents. As director of that survey of historians, I know that Eisenhower came out eleventh while Kennedy ranked 13th.

Robert K. Murray Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pa.

The urge to reassess the Kennedy myth is understandable. But for those of us whose spirits were lifted by the New Frontier and who grew up "in the huts and villages of half the globe," often with a picture of J.F.K. on the mud wall, the legend is stirring and meaningful. Kennedy cannot be measured by his national accomplishments alone. He belongs to a larger world.

Sabastian Devasia Bocholt, West Germany

Grenada Debate

In your discussion of what constitutes aggression among nations [Nov. 14], you fail to distinguish between indirect aggression and revolution. Practically all revolutions have some sort of foreign support. I can hear George III screaming about a coup d'etat in the American colonies where insurgents were acting as surrogates for the French.

Saul Sands Hofstra University Hempstead, N. Y.

I was stunned when I heard we invaded a sovereign state without provocation. I am more stunned as I see my friends, who, caught up in the headiness of a military victory, have become apologists for our invasion. When the thrill of combat subsides, I hope this adventure will become the last instance of America's primitive behavior, as symbolized by General Custer and his slaughter of the Indians. In the future, I urge that we have respect for all life, Cuban as well as Grenadian as well as American.

Bob Schmidt Houston

By his actions in Grenada, President Reagan has acquired a Caribbean fan club. We in Trinidad are impressed by the bravery and heroism of the American forces, and we offer our sympathy to those who have lost a loved one. They died on our behalf as well.

Ellen Hope Ross Trinidad

Your brief summary of international law as it applied to the American action in Grenada oversimplifies the matter. Nor did it help to misquote me as saying: "The Soviets can get away with major, minor or theoretical violations of international law because their power and standing in the world do not rest on a respect for legal niceties." That is not my opinion. It is my belief that the alliances the Soviets have forged with other countries rest on force and ideology. These alliances are very expensive for the Soviets, in both money and prestige. The U.S., on the other hand, has until now enjoyed much cheaper and more reliable alliances based on our word and the values we share with our allies. With our Grenada adventure, we violated the United Nations Charter as well as the charter of the Organization of American States. As a result, our word will now be suspect and our European allies must reconsider their willingness to cooperate with us in defense efforts that rely on our judgment and sense of values. That is a terrible price. It is what the Soviets already pay, and I see no reason why we should have given up our advantage in that regard.

Alfred P. Rubin, Professor Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Medford, Mass.

If President Reagan had not taken the offensive in Grenada, democratic countries in Latin America would be heading toward terrorism, provoked by the Cubans and Soviets, and would ultimately come under Communist rule.

Mauricio Pereira Bogota, Colombia

Ronald Reagan once again has shown that he is living in an era long past. To call this moment, when American servicemen are dying in foreign lands, the "proudest" of his presidency is not only archaic but obscene. How can anyone be proud of the fact that 18 young men died in Grenada or that 239 were blown to pieces in Lebanon?

Naomi A. Rose South Hadley, Mass.

When I was a child in Poland in 1945, we were liberated by Soviet troops. Yet we longed then, and millions of people from the Baltic to the Black Sea still do, to be invaded by the American military. Lucky Grenada.

Nika Krzeczunowicz Munich

Hurrah for the U.S. Marines who ousted the Cubans from Grenada. Go East, young men, and expel them from Angola too.

Raymond Buren Neufchateau, Belgium

Finally, we have a President in the U.S. with some guts. Bravo for not letting the so-called Cuban liberators do to Grenada what the Syrians did to my country. Reagan is the first President in a decade who does not flash us a toothbrushed smile while the Soviets move their Iron Curtain forward.

Hani Mahmoud Matar Beirut

Press Ban

There comes a time when Americans must choose between freedom of the press and national security [Nov. 14]. National security was more at stake than freedom of the press in Grenada.

Tracy A. Jeffers Robbins, Tenn.

Three cheers for Admiral Joseph Metcalf and the Joint Chiefs for their handling of the press in Grenada. Journalists are the spoiled, arrogant brats of our world. Americans heartily endorse this long-overdue comeuppance.

Alan P.P. Moyler R Redding, Conn.

Blame not the President. Instead, blame Dan Rather, blame 60 Minutes, blame Ben Bradlee and yes, blame yourselves.

E. Stanley Warchaizer Lafayette Hill, Pa.

Does the press really believe the American public has a "right to know," or are journalists saying that they have the right to pursue a hot story?

Robert C. Kurtz Houston

Several years ago as a first-year journalism student, I quickly learned that the journalistic life was not for me. I could not stomach it. Journalists are exposed on a daily basis to the darkest corners of our world. Rape, child abuse, murder, war, accidents and political scandal, to name just a few. All these things require scrutiny and analysis. Journalists stand face to face with these horrors and come back to tell us, the public, what they have seen. They keep us informed while saving us from the ordeal of having to face the world and all its cruelty and insanity.

Barbara J. Nutley Toronto

This country was founded on the belief that free citizens make decisions, and these decisions are based on their knowledge. Censorship is a very effective way of controlling the information that is available and thus the decisions people make. Although no immediate damage may have been done through the military censorship of the press in Grenada, this action has set a dangerous precedent.

William R. Hazelrig Birmingham

Henry Grunwald's Essay, which discusses the restrictions on the press in Grenada [Nov. 7], is right to blame the Reagan Administration for attempting "to shape a whole climate of opinion." The article fails, however, to point out that journalists often do the same thing.

Beatrix Rheingans West Germany

Henry Grunwald presumption in proclaiming himself and his fellow journalists the public's "representative" and "witness and watchdog" is quite annoying. I feel adequately represented by my two Senators, my Congressman and the President.

(CPL) David W. Martin U.S.M.C. New River, N.C.

The press would be more bearable if it got down off its high horse and quit calling the search for news a holy crusade. The First Amendment guarantees Americans the freedom to say what is on their minds or write anything they desire. It does not guarantee journalists the right to be at the scene of a story.

Michael O. Brady Bloomington, Minn.

I want to reply to the statement by Jody Powell, who says, "The Government has not only the right but sometimes the obligation to lie." He should remember that not long ago we had an Administration that lied itself out of office.

Rosemary F. Whitacre Columbia, Md.

I do enjoy seeing our press receive a good swift kick now and then.

Gail Smith Fair field, Conn.

Describing Doomsday

Scientists Paul Erlich and Carl Sagan [Nov. 14] predict sunless, bitter cold weather in the event of a nuclear war. In rebuttal, Edward Teller claims that Ehrlich and Sagan "may be stating a case two to three times as bad as what would actually happen." Should Americans be relieved by Teller's comment? Should we be overjoyed to know that only one-third to one-half of the earth will be destroyed instead of all of it?

Robert H. Murdoch Jr. Durham, N.C.

Astronomer Sagan, in his sincere effort to discourage a nuclear holocaust, may actually give world leaders a warped sense of security in thinking they could unleash a limited volley of missiles for strategical gains and not end the world. Whether it be 17,000 blasts or one, the world cannot, must not, suffer the horrors of a nuclear exchange.

Al Auletta Richmond, Calif.

Unfair Justice

I was incredulous after reading your story on the slaying of Vincent Chin in Detroit [Nov. 14], and the ridiculous sentence of three years on probation that his killers received. I do not know which is more tragic: the senseless slaughter of an innocent young man who was about to be married, or Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman's refusal to put the two guilty men behind bars, saying they are not the "kind of people you send to prison."

Vivian Lee New York City

If you do not send murderers to prison, whom do you send? Judges who fail to punish criminals?

Dick Loveless Stevens Point, Wis.

The Battle for Baby Doe

It is sickening to see the federal bureaucracy enter the case of Baby Jane Doe, who was born with serious handicaps [Nov. 14]. The mask is finally coming off this Administration. When it seeks to interfere in personal moral decisions, like those involving surgery for the baby, the Government reveals that underneath the conservative face lies the visage of the Moral Majority.

William D. King Fishkill, N. Y.

Handicapped people have as much right to live and receive appropriate medical treatment as anyone else. The Reagan Administration is not "forcing hospitals to do whatever is necessary to prolong life." The Government is only ensuring that the handicapped receive fair and equal treatment.

Mary J. Miller Cambridge, Ohio

My five-year-old daughter was born severely brain damaged. The parents of Baby Jane Doe are in the most agonizing situation imaginable. I am outraged that Lawyer A. Lawrence Washburn Jr. and that anonymous person who "tipped" him off saw fit to involve themselves in what can only be considered the most private of decisions.

Ann Virlouvet Dallas

Harassment at Harvard

The problem of sexual harassment in academic circles [Nov. 14] will not be solved until someone figures out a way to open the door to legitimate complaints without also letting through the spurious ones. In the current social climate an ambitious, seductive woman can identify scholars of influence and set out to sleep her way to the top. If things do not go as she wants, she can then slap those men with a sexual harassment charge.

Alleen Pace Nilsen Tempe, Ariz. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.