Lt. Col Lakin: another voice

By letter to the editor

I just read the stories on LtCol Lakin's refusal to report to his duty and missing movement for his troop, and while I believe Obama is the consummate liar about his background, I have to support the Dept.of the Army and their court-martial proceedings on this one.

I am retired Navy and am thinking of the many thousand soldiers who do not support Obama yet do their jobs no matter what, and Lakin's refusal to obey lawful orders only puts the Army in a position to order someone else to fill Lakin's billet, and I consider Lakin's motivations somewhat immature.

I am thinking of all those draft-dodgers who fled to Canada and the result was someone else taking the draftees place. That action, too can be a selfish act and Jimmy Carter made things that much worse by granting the blanket amnesty to them. I know it's not technically the same, but sending someone else in Lakin's place isn't right, either.

Maybe someone in Congress will intervene and force someone to make a rational decision here. But in the meantime a court-martial, while a public relations nightmare, might teach someone a lesson in duty, honor, sacrifice and country that is often so overlooked in today's celebrity-obsessed culture.

Michael F. Vaughn, retired Navy

Jacksonville, FL