The writer of the letter “Veteran won’t vote for Biden” (May 16, TribLive), who says he is an Air Force veteran, regurgitates numerous right-wing conspiracy theories about the erosion of “freedoms, values and individual responsibilities” by the left as reasons not to vote for President Biden and extolling the years of the Trump administration.

He lists the “freedoms” for military personnel that were undermined during covid, such as mask-wearing, mandated vaccines, etc., and excoriates the Biden administration for these safety measures.

I am an Air Force veteran, drafted in 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War. My experience in the Vietnam years was quite different. At 3 a.m., my drill sergeant stated, “Our souls belong to God; our asses belong to the U.S. government.” He meant it.

Unless the armed forces have changed drastically since the 1970s, being inducted into the military means suspending your individual rights for your term of service. You get the shots and vaccines set by your commanders to protect yourself and your comrades in arms. You go where you are assigned when you are told to go, no questions asked. The military personnel obey orders without question. They are heroes, unlike cowardly, draft-dodging Trump!

Harold F. Weaver

Hempfield

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