Ancient, Hideous Fact

Sir: Your story and pictures of the My Lai massacre [Nov. 28] eloquently reveal the ancient, hideous fact: how war so harshly democratizes both oppressor and victim --by depriving each of his privilege and uniqueness as a human being.

DAVID HARSCHEID Falls Church, Va.

Sir: The trite phrase "My country right or wrong" sounds very hollow in view of the American war atrocities at My Lai. The innocent, helpless civilians so brutally murdered there are another testimony to the fact that "liberty and justice for all" exist only if one happens to be American, wealthy and white. The "great silent majority" must work together morally for those values and ideals that were once held in such high esteem.

(THE REV.) F. O. VILLIEN

Lafayette, La.

Sir: After the Galley affair, how can anyone dare suggest "peace with honor"?

NANCY E. FERCHAK Baltimore

Sir: Just what the hell is this country coming to? What kind of America is it that sends its men into foreign countries to help uphold the doctrines of freedom, yet will not back these men when they wage war as they have been ordered? No one condones this alleged act of violence, yet one cannot help feeling that this man is being made a scapegoat to ease the minds of those who believe that our position in Viet Nam is unethical.

CHARLES G. MICHAL Newport News, Va.

Sir: I, who detest violence of any kind, would deem it an honor to be in the firing squad to mete out their just due to the murdering cowards of the C Company of the 11th Infantry Brigade. My only regret would be that I would not have the advantage of the element of surprise that these merciless killers had in the slaughter of the innocent people of My Lai.

(MRS.) NAOMI S. Fox Burlington, Mass.

Sir: I just watched the television coverage of the Pinkville atrocity, and for the first time I am bitterly ashamed to be an American. All I could do was mutter helplessly, "God damn them! God damn them!"

DONALD S. METZ Deerfield, Ill.

Message Received

Sir: The rejection of Clement Haynsworth [Nov. 28] clearly shows that Congress has gotten the message: while the election of Nixon indicated great disenchantment with Lyndon Johnson, it was not the public mandate for ultraconservatism and political patronage that the Nixon-Agnew forces claim.

ELLIDA KIRK Tacoma, Wash.

Sir: Should American citizens expect a lower standard of ethics from their Senators and Representatives than from their Supreme Court Justices? I think not.

Is there a single member of either House who could have stood up to the scrutiny of his personal affairs and come out with as whole a skin as Judge Haynsworth? The height of hypocrisy was the no vote of Senator Dodd of Connecticut, a man whose financial dealings should have ousted him from the Senate.

D. S. HUTCHINSON

Guadalajara, Mexico

Sir: I'll bet the Senate barber shop is putting in some extra chairs in anticipation of a huge increase in business. Surely, after what some Senators did to Judge Haynsworth, they won't be able to ever look in the mirror again.

HELEN M. NICOLA Seattle

Burnt Cookie

Sir: Mr. Agnew will never fit your cookie cutter. Your unprofessional and intemperate language proves that he has reached you and your TV buddies.

RAYMOND F. BABUICH Buffalo

Sir: When this country cries out for a unifying force that can only come with thoughtful and perceptive leadership, Mr. Agnew responds with shallow invective and inflammatory theatrics.

SALLY FREED Pacific Grove, Calif.

Sir: Agnew did not cut the deck between constitutional freedom or Machiavellian censorship; rather, he spread the cards on the table to reveal any irresponsible freedom or censorship that might "already exist." Perhaps such a critical hand might be just helpful enough to bluff the aim of some joker's camera or steady a film editor's slippery scissors that can hack or heal history in one snip.

I'm betting that a "Spiro T" is not an anachronistically rare model of the Edsel dynasty, but rather a concerned leader interested in creating conscious conscience. JOHN W. SPAKOWSKI West Orange, N.J.

Sir: Wasn't it Adlai Stevenson who said: "Flattery is fine but don't inhale"?

Inhale? Gentlemen of the press, you have hyperventilated.

MARY C. HAMILTON Strykersville, N.Y.

Sir: As psyched up as Johnson became over criticism, he never stooped to intimidation of the news media. Nixon sure knows how to alienate a guy.

J.O.A. ADAMS Olean, N.Y.

Sir: Has the President the right to appeal for unity on an issue that he feels is dangerously divisive without contending with a formidable array of soothsayers (all, strangely enough, with one voice) waiting to tell the populace to disregard the President and listen to them instead?

When the President announces his intention to speak to the citizenry on a matter of national concern, it is the President's audience gathered in front of their TV sets. It is therefore presumption, bordering on arrogance, that network officials feel it is within their province to select certain well-known commentators who will also address the nation immediately after the President's remarks and advise the people that the President is wrong. This is not reporting the news.

Nonetheless, it is conceded that these men have developed a following that depends on them for political guidance. Mr. Agnew stresses only this: let them guide on their own time, making it clear that they are editorializing, and finally, let them deliver their criticism on regularly scheduled newscasts, at which time the people are prepared for such things.

E. T. GENDRON Wantagh, N.Y.

Sir: At last! We candid slobs against abject surrender to force, who characterize ourselves as realists, have found a spokesman in Spiro.

BOB WIGGINS Joseph, Ore.

Basic Human Rights

Sir: Hooray for Judge Gerhard Gesell. I applaud his decision declaring Washington, D.C.'s abortion laws [Nov. 21] unconstitutional. I sincerely hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will agree with his decision and not get hung up on the questionable rights of the fetus. The rights of an individual female human being must come first. A woman should have the right to make decisions about her body whether the decision is in regard to the contents of her womb, the teeth in her head, or any organs of her body. As if the basic human rights involved are not enough to justify striking the abortion laws, there is always the impending threat of overpopulation, which in itself is reason enough.

(MRS.) KATHERINE MANN Janesville, Wis.

Sir: The so-called right of women to have abortions is easily cited in these times of increasing liberties for the individual. But few articles consider the very real right of the unborn child to life. One cannot ignore the problems, both mental and physical, that occur with the expectation of a child begotten by a rapist or a baby that will be deformed. Nor can the existence of so many harmful amateur abortions be dismissed. But to take away the rights of the unborn child is too drastic a solution. Whatever views people hold in this matter, they ought to fully consider where this new course of liberalization leads and how it will affect their view of human life, a value that Americans feel they hold particularly dear.

RALPH BABUSCI JR. Drexel Hill, Pa.

Sir: Thank heavens that at last it's beginning to look as though women will be given the opportunity to decide whether or not to bear children. I sometimes wonder how many young girls "in trouble" have gone off to meet an abortionist in some warehouse --sometimes to bleed to death--because of the stupidity of the abortion laws. How many thousands of kids have gotten married because "they had to"? How many children were born into families where they just weren't wanted?

I think that there should be no abortion law at all--I think it should be one of our most basic and human rights not to have children if we don't want to.

(MRS.) ANN MILLER Arlington, Va.

Weakest Link

Sir: We must correct the erroneous impression that "a single shot through the highly pressurized skin of a jetliner could cause a plane to explode in flight" [Nov. 21]. It is doubtful if a man could physically carry enough small arms ammunition on board to cause the aircraft to "explode." Each bullet hole would cause the pressurization system to pump more air into the cabin. The noise level would certainly increase, but it would take literally hundreds of bullet holes to exceed the capacity of the system.

I speak as a 25-year airline pilot, a former national officer of the pilots association and currently a jet captain; the design of the airframe and the redundancy of the systems preclude catastrophic failure as a result of small arms fire. Our reluctance to resist stems from the vulnerability of the pilots. We, not the aircraft, are the weak link in the resistance chain. We do not advocate a "shootout at 30,000 ft.," but we must encourage rational resistance to epidemic air piracy.

RICHARD FLOURNOY Princeton, N.J.

Onward to Destiny

Sir: The women's liberation movement [Nov. 21] of which I am a part is not militant or segregationalist. With the encouragement of our husbands, we are working to eliminate discrimination, create the opportunity for women to develop their intellect to its full fruition, and encourage women to make their own decisions governing their destinies. The Aunt Tabbies not only prefer the security of their pseu-doexistence, denying their talents and creativity, but fight tooth and nail to prevent any progress. Hopefully, your article will pry open some closed minds.

(MRS.) MAUREEN BALL Springfield, Ohio

Sir: While it's certainly true that women are not being paid the same wages as men or accorded the same business acumen, it is also true that no man likes a "smartass broad." Women were meant to be lovers, not fighters.

NINA VERMILLION Beverly Hills, Calif.

Sir: You imply that men want "cows" for wives and mothers of their children. The man of today wants more. He wants an educated, pretty, sexy and stimulating cow.

In England they call us "birds" because all we have ever been good for is mindless nest building.

CLAIRE H. EICHINGER Fredericksburg, Va.

Sir: For too long our social system has taught men to get what they want through character and ability, and women to get what they want by pleasing men. Second-class citizenship for women is perpetuated by labeling the resultant, conditioned traits as "masculine" and "feminine" and proceeding to worship them.

VICKY D. FRIEND Olympia, Wash.

Sir: I just want all of those American men to know that I, for one, am a sexy, gorgeous woman who considers it a pleasure to take care of my man and make him happy. I know too many uptight, sour, miserable "career girls" like some of the homely examples used to illustrate your article. No thanks. (I'm an American, but I still like men!)

MAGGIE TAPERT Munich, West Germany

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