Vietnam

* In Colman McCarthy's article "The missing multitudes at the Wall," he projects a great misunderstanding of the Vietnam War (NCR, Dec. 14). What we attempted in Vietnam was noble in intent. We attempted to help the people of South Vietnam have better lives with more freedom. Lyndon Johnson and his cronies tried to win the war on the cheap, just as the Bush crowd has done in Iraq. However badly it failed, do not put down the effort those lives made for a better Vietnam. During the war many more civilians were killed by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces deliberately than were killed by our forces accidentally. When the North conquered the South, it was done because our Congress had cut off the logistic support we promised while China and the Soviet Union continued to supply the North, not because the people wanted the North Vietnamese Army to win. I believe that if the war had been prosecuted with a plan and with decisiveness at the top level, there would be a prosperous South Vietnam today that would be developing a real democracy as has happened in South Korea. I am a Vietnam veteran and proud of what we tried to do.

DAN BLOODWORTH JR.

Opelika, Ala.

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