Saccharine patriotism

In response to “Respect our national anthem” (Joe Schauble, July 17), I am a USAF veteran of 35 years (seven years Reserve and 28 years Active - of which I spent about three years in bits and pieces in the U.S.). My experiences taught me that my government did not care about me, or any of our troops.

I was in Thailand (twice) during the Vietnam war, when our government emphatically denied we were there (reference “Thud Ridge” by Col. Jack Broughton). We lost 10 good pilots when I was there - I still do not know how the U.S. government described their deaths to their families.

I served in Vietnam and again saw our government being unsupportive of our troops. I saw a man die from a phosphorus grenade in his stomach. Because of this, I have no problem with anyone who wishes to protest against government authority by not putting hand over heart (where is the heart?) or by kneeling.

Perhaps my service has made me cynical about this civilian saccharine patriotism.

John Derks

Deer Park