To the editor:

The Dole Institute was resplendent in the early morning sun with flags snapping in the breeze as another year passed, marking the anniversary of the Marine Corps birthday. This year, rather than a Washington, D.C., celebrity speaker, we had the privilege of a local legend, Buck Newsom, a 91-year former Navy captain whose accomplishments are amazing.

Buck did not paint America as infallible but as a dominant force in helping the whole world through some very tough times, emphasizing how each particular generation responded to the call. The focus of Buck’s talk was terrorism, a deadly force in the world. After he spoke, I asked him, “You’ve identified the problems, sir, but what is the solution? He shook his head. “There are a lot of people smarter than I am working on this.”

America’s war of choice in Afghanistan is going on its 10th year. On average, each month sees $5.7 billion in direct costs with 40 American battle dead and 79 wounded with no end to this conflict in sight. America is spending more on defense than the rest of the world does, combined!

I don’t consider myself smarter than others, but why not simply declare ourselves winners of the war in Afghanistan and immediately bring our troops home, exactly as we did to end the Vietnam War over 30 years ago? This may not be the conclusion to this war some may have desired, but it is something almost all American people would welcome with great relief, especially the troops serving over there and certainly their families back home.

Curtis D. Bennett,

Lawrence