I was born in 1933. At 4 years old, I had rheumatic fever that left me with a heart murmur. I wanted to do what all the other boys did and lived a pretty normal life. I played basketball and won the mile race in track for my high school.

I enlisted in the Air Force and almost didn’t pass the physical because of a weak hernia. The doctors OK’d me when they learned I’d enlisted, and I served slightly more than four years.

When I go to the doctor, I always ask if they can hear the heart murmur. They always can, but I’ve ignored it for more than 75 years.

Other than the four years in the military, I have lived in Maine, in 15 different places, and everywhere I’ve lived I’ve used water from a drilled well.

I have had dozens of blood tests, and asked a nurse which one of the 26 items I can’t identify is releated to arsenic. She said none, and I then asked what arsenic caused in the human body. One doctor told me that the human body needs some arsenic to remain healthy, but couldn’t tell me what it was responsible for in the human body.

After living more than 80 years, my health has been better than average. The only times I have been in the hospital were for a normal tonsillectomy when I was 10 years old and a hemorrhoid operation when I was 60.

When I read about arsenic in wells in the state of Maine, they said it was bad for people. I think that’s a lot of malarkey, hogwash and hot air. I believe the powers-that-be in the state of Maine are just trying to feather their nest.

Richard Eaton

Farfield