Shabby historicism
I strongly endorse your editorial concerning the 41 returned men who served in Vietnam and the justification for their service being honoured by Kaitaia College (Patriotic fervour? June 13).
These men and my alma mater have nothing but my profound respect, just as I honoured my father's generation serving in many ways during WWII and my grandfathers' serving in WWI. At the same time I reserve my right as a citizen to honour my grandmother's equally heroic efforts in the mid-1930s to campaign against war and fascism, until the Labour Party decided to align its foreign policy with Mother England.
It is political opportunism and shabby historicism to use today's values to evaluate judgements made in the past in very different contexts.
Further to your editorial, however, I would suggest we look past mere selected principles to the appalling consequences of post traumatic stress disorder caused by engagement in warfare. This is to argue that the unintended and unwitting victims of PTSD also need to be honoured, and above all, supported.
REYNOLD MACPHERSON
