I am a student of history and a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force (ages 17 to 38). One of my sons is a veteran with four years of honorable service with the Air Force. I have always thought that we did some good for our country. Also, I lost a cousin in World War II, in France. My service included the occupation of Japan, the “cold war”, and the Vietnam War.

I am now strongly advising my eight grandsons, “Do not even think about joining any branch of the military services until we get some adequate senior leadership in Washington, D.C. You do not want to be in a position to be sacrificed by some incompetent politicians, some of whom have probably never held down a real job and now consider themselves ‘the elite’.”

I am very sorry that the situation has come to this sad conclusion. I guess anything better than adequate is too much to hope for. Now that I think about it, and remember it, the “leadership” we had in the Vietnam War was nothing to brag about, but not as bad as now.

Larry Stanley

Wilmington