In his Sept. 8 letter, “We deserve better from columnist,” Don Newell took exception with Opinion Editor Greg Jayne’s Sept. 2 column about how things were bad 50 years ago (“Yes, things are bad, but let me tell you about 50 years ago“). I like Jayne’s columns and find them insightful.
Newell apparently flew in Vietnam. That reminded me of a story that my lead at work, who is a Vietnam veteran, told me. He and another veteran had been arguing about the life in Vietnam, good or bad. My lead turned to me and said “he (the other veteran) ate in a cafeteria.” I suspect Newell, a pilot, also ate in a cafeteria. My lead was an Army grunt in Vietnam; he told me of eating his lunch while leaning on a tree next to a week-old Vietnamese corpse that those pilots had roasted from the air.
Perception, good or bad, varies with experience, doesn’t it?
