To veterans for Trump:

To the Editor:

You questioned the credibility of our information regarding Trump’s comments about veterans. You are correct that we did not hear the comments ourselves, and thus do not really know if he actually said them. For the same reason, you do not know that he did not.

We rely on major newspapers and networks who are very careful to verify their stories. Trump’s reported comments about veterans being “losers” and “suckers” were verified by three sources and are quite consistent with other reported comments regarding veterans, such as John McCain (“loser”) and his generals.

There are also many other reported negative comments about veterans and generals. With that much smoke, there is bound to be fire.

We think that those who dismiss these sources miss the opportunity to discover that Donald Trump is undermining our entire constitutional form of government and attempting to make a farce of the upcoming election. Free and open elections are at the heart of the United States ability to remain truly free. We would hate to wake up one day and find all that gone.

Don (veteran) and Harriett

(American Red Cross, Korea) Richards

Fairmont

Hometown values

To the Editor:

My father died recently and my family returned to scatter his ashes on the farm outside of Truman that he called home for almost 80 years, from a young boy to an elderly man. He loved the land, the small town and mostly the people; his neighbors, family and friends. I learned how to respect hard work and an honest opinion, to listen and try to understand, even when I disagreed. One night, when I was in college, my father and I had a 2 hour heated discussion. We thought we were completely opposed, but when we started to talk about values, we found we agreed. He voted Republican, I voted Democrat. He was my father; I was his daughter. To honor him, I always wanted to be open to his ideas, to be open to changing my mind about the best way to solve the problems before us. Now that he is gone, I promise to not assume that I know what is right. I promise to be willing to change my mind, to change my vote. I urge you to do the same – we are not electing a political party. We are electing people who will hold great power over our lives for years to come. Take a moment and take great care to make the right choice.

Sindy Mau

St. Paul