To the Editor:

Perhaps some headway is being made with respect to civil rights when at least two candidates for public office dare to raise the issue of gays and lesbians historically being denied the right to march in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, costing the city taxpayers in excess of $300,000. [Their stands] merit applause by all.

Yet, why is it the media and the entire political establishment support the so-called Allied War Veterans, through silence and news blackout, in denying Veterans for Peace, many of whom have been decorated for service in combat, from participating in the parade, the reason being that the current Commander, P. Wuschke, objects to the word “peace” as political.

What does it say for a city touting itself as “innovative” and one of “progress,” when the word “peace” is, in effect officially, a dirty word, and voices for peace cannot be observed by children whose minds are polluted by military spectacle and “jingoistic patriots” who, an investigation would reveal, have never suffered the experience of shrapnel in the form of body parts.

Tony Flaherty, LT, USN, Ret.
Veterans for Peace
South Boston, Ma.