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Letter to Editor

By Tim Teater

My name is Tim Teater. I have been a member and supporter of VVAW since my return from Vietnam. I am writing to express my strenuous objection to the piece by Dennis Serdel. [Poem on page 37 of Spring 2014 issue of The Veteran - ed.] First, we all know that atrocities were committed by all sides and it is important that these be addressed openly and forthrightly. However, I am not sure that I believe what this person has written. If this is a factual account then I would say the acts were those of a psychopath and not representative of Vietnam Veterans. If this was fiction, to what end was it written? Haven't we Vietnam Veterans endured enough shit without being defamed by a fellow vet? Secondly however, the greater problem with this piece was the bandying about of the term Nazi. This trivializes the atrocity that was Nazism which was responsible, along with Imperial Japan, for the deaths of over 60 million human beings. From the title, Teenage Nazis, are we supposed to believe Vietnam Veterans are analogous to Nazis? I find both the piece and the intimation repugnant. I found this piece disgraceful and utterly inappropriate for a publication named The Veteran.