U.S. should cut spending on defense
Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright’s relatives grieve his loss. Others have done the same.
Perhaps we should ask: Why does the U.S. have troops in Niger to begin with? And, why, when our nation has $20 trillion of debt and last year raised roughly $3 trillion in tax revenue, does our nation have approximately 800 foreign military bases when the rest of the world combined has about 60 foreign bases? History has shown that empires don’t last. A quasi-empire probably won’t come out any better. We need to substantially cut spending. I can think of a good place to start.
ALLEN BUCKLEY, ATLANTA
African-American sacrifices often overlooked
This Veterans Day, spare a thought for African-American veterans. Their sacrifices are often overlooked.
Take the Civil War: Almost 180,000 blacks served in the Union Army; 40,000 died. Despite facing massacre or slavery if captured, they fought heroically, tipping the war’s balance.
Take World War II: Despite military segregation and discrimination, one million blacks served. James Baldwin describes how black parents were relieved when their sons were deployed: better to die in combat than be lynched at a Southern training camp.
Many returning black soldiers were murdered for demanding respect. Many who survived became civil rights leaders. For example, Medgar Evers, who fought at Normandy, battled for desegregation and voting rights in Mississippi until his 1963 assassination.
Why not honor black veterans by renaming the 10 Army bases named after Confederate officers for Evers and his brothers-in-arms who gave their all to realize American ideals abroad and at home?
STEVE BABB, LAWRENCEVILLE
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