Well, I don't believe this father was out of line writing this letter to an administration who openely claimed they loathed the military. I think the father did a very brave and admirable thing.
While I can understand and appreciate your skepticism to not join the services, I must say both this father and his son served willingly and proudly even though in the son's case the father felt the administration failed him.
Anyway, God bless America. That's the bottom line, huh?
Yeah, that's right. The father wasn't "out of line," and his criticism was valid, but he really had no reason to expect the Clinton administration to act in a competent manner.
What I've always found interesting is that Vietnam veterans I've known can be divided into two groups: One group pushed their own kids to join the armed forces, out of a sense of patriotism or something of that sort. The other group would have disowned any child of theirs that even thought of joining the armed forces, out of a sense of betrayal over what they themselves had gone through.
It's actually amazing -- in my experience there has been no middle ground in cases like this.