To the editor:

I would like to take exception to George Gurley’s Jan. 5 column, “Government oppresses more than it serves.” As one who has served his country in World War II and in the Korean War, I try to recall a similar headline expressing the sentiment of the John F. Kennedy “ask not” era. I cannot. In the interim, government landed a team on the moon, explored the rings of Saturn and Mars and focused on the beginning of our universe. As any fool can plainly see, these programs were bound to involve duplication and needless expense, as well as failures and deaths.

Last Jan. 29, the Journal-World reported Census Bureau data that almost 13 percent of the state’s population, 361,000 Kansans, do not have health insurance, with 343,000 on Medicaid. Patient Services Inc., a charitable foundation of Midlothian, Va., reports that over 18,000 Americans die each year because they can’t afford health insurance. As one with leukemia and health insurance and a benefit of a daily blocker pill that costs $7,000 a month, my thanks to those who care. To the others, they should be ashamed of themselves.