I took exception to Ernest Lamarre’s letter, “Politically, Maine isn’t what it used to be,”
(Maine Sunday Telegram, Sept. 21), as a proud “liberal wacko” (Lamarre’s
words) and Vietnam War-era U.S. Army veteran in his 80s.

The letter stated: “Democrats always get us into wars, and the Republicans bail us out.” On that claim, some facts:

• Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, declared war on Japan in 1941 (the war had started in Europe in 1939). Would Lamarre rather he’d demurred in the face of the bombing of Pearl Harbor?
• Harry Truman, a Democrat, ended the war in 1945.
• U.S. military involvement in Vietnam began in 1954 with the covert “U.S. Saigon Military
  Mission,” under Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican. Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, greatly
  increased the country’s involvement. The US withdrew in 1973, under Richard Nixon, a
  Republican.
• George W. Bush, a Republican, started the military “action” in Iraq (“The Iraq War,” though
  never declared by Congress, as required by the Constitution) in 2003 with the invasion of
  Baghdad. He declared the “action” over in May 2003, although U.S. soldiers continued to fight and die there until withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011, under Barack Obama, a Democrat.
• The Afghanistan “War” (again, never declared) began in October 2001, under George W. Bush, a Republican, and continued until the withdrawal of U.S. forces in August 2021 under Joe Biden, a Democrat.

As Mr. Lamarre urges, “For God’s sake, wake up and vote!” (But beware, lest you find yourself labeled “woke.”)

George Stephens
Owls Head