Letters: Vets were there 'protesting,' too

IN A BRIEF report on the Sept. 12 march to close the Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall, the

Daily News

characterized the 150 or so citizens who marched to raise questions about the AEC as "protesters." Members of a right-wing group called A Gathering of Eagles - provided hospitality by the AEC and invited to gather inside the center - were characterized as "counter-protesters, including Vietnam War veterans."

I'm a member of Veterans for Peace, and I'm fine with the tag "protester." But I'm also a Vietnam veteran, as were more than a dozen other "protesters" marching against the AEC. We may not look and dress like Rambo, but we're just as much Vietnam vets as the Eagles. A number of Iraq war veterans also marched to close the AEC.

It's our experiences as Vietnam and Iraq veterans that motivates us to criticize the way the AEC uses hunter-killer video games and simulators to seduce kids as young as 13 into joining the military. The $12 million Army Experience Center is located across from a Dave & Buster's neon sign declaring "EAT DRINK PLAY."

From January to July of this year, there were more suicides among our soldiers than combat deaths, a statistic that should make all Americans shake the cobwebs from their heads and look afresh at the runaway, escalating war in Afghanistan.

As we all chanted in front of the AEC: "War is not a game!" Young Americans deserve more and better information when they are asked to be part of a war of choice like the one in Afghanistan.

Of course, the risk is if they knew more, they might join us "protesters."

John Grant, Plymouth Meeting

Dr. Phil & cheesesteaks

Dr. Phil putting an end to the cheesesteak war in South Philly? That's a joke.

There are plenty of places with better cheesesteaks in Roxborough and Mount Airy. (Remember the Explorer's Den near LaSalle, now Andy's & Pagano's?)

And if Dr. Phil knows so much, where's bin Laden?

Laurence Barberra

Philadelphia

ACLU smokescreen

The American Civil Liberties Union is bringing allegations against the CIA for alleged torture of top al Qaeda suspects.

This is the same organization that wants to remove the Ten Commandments from public places and defends the rights of child molesters. It's just another blatant attempt by the left to divert out attention away from the fact that this administration is failing miserably.

Nicky Giorno

Hunlock Creek (Pa.) State Prison

Out of love with Serena

If Serena Williams is so big and bad that she has to push around a little old Chinese-lady line judge, maybe she should use that strength to push back from the dinner table. Maybe, just maybe, she could stop eating herself into mediocrity. I've loved Serena and Venus since they began to play. I still love Venus.

Len Barry, Philadelphia

Yo, Adrian!

Officer Adrian Hospedale, you did good, my man! God bless and godspeed!

Mark Anthony Vare, Philadelphia