Dear Editor,
Though I am not an ETSU student and have never been, I regularly read the East Tennessean online.
When I stumbled across Mr. Kramer’s article, I assumed I was reading another pointless argument either for or against Buc football. But what I did find was even more disturbing.
Mr. Kramer belittles not only America’s commander in chief, but also a war in which many Americans are dying. The suggestion that President Bush is in some way not a part of the U.S. Army’s war in Iraq is ludicrous.
Does he honestly expect our president to lead the troops into battle, front and center on a white horse like kings of olden nations? So maybe we aren’t quite “kicking ass” like President Bush said, but that gives Mr. Kramer no authority to demean the president for a lack of leadership by example, or the deaths of patriotic Americans in war.
In 2006 the air force, army, marines and navy all met their recruitment goals for active duty. They also all met their goals for retention rate of active duty soldiers (the Navy however failed some its returning soldiers due to physical inadequacies). That ensured yet another year without a draft.
Every soldier in Iraq volunteered, and continues to volunteer to serve under President Bush and his administration. How many miles away from the battlefield in Iraq, the front lines that you refer to, or from the Oval Office is Mr. Kramer’s plush apartment, safely tucked into the confines of the mountains? Like you said, it’s easy to be a “tough guy” miles away from reality.
Please do the readers of the East Tennessean a favor: simplify Mr. Kramer’s life. Keep him reporting snack bar changes and stop his attempt at demeaning the sacrifice and commitment to a country he obviously doesn’t respect.
—Daren Stoltzfus

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