The Exchange Club of Auburn put on a veterans luncheon to celebrate Veterans Day at the Green Ladle in Lewiston. What it didn’t tell the attending veterans beforehand was that they were a captive audience for a political advertisement starring former Gov. Paul LePage.

While the dinner was billed as a celebration of our veterans and their service to our country, in reality they were subjected to a whining tirade about how hard Mr. LePage’s life was growing up.

Was it really more difficult than the life of teenagers who dodged bullets and artillery, waded through rice paddies and were showered with Agent Orange? Agent Orange would eventually take the life of young veterans like my Marine brother (Francis Towns Jr.), who eventually died from that exposure. Was LePage really suffering the way my father (Francis Towns Sr.) did? He was orphaned at age 6, worked as a child ward of the state on chicken farms to pay for his room and board and joined the Marines during World War II, as a teenager, earning a Purple Heart for his service injuries and eventually dying at age 52 as a result of those injuries. 

LePage never served our country in any branch of the military yet he was selected to speak on Veterans Day — while campaigning for political office? The Exchange Club should be embarrassed by their lack of compassion for our real veteran heroes.  

Patricia Towns Allard
Lewiston