LETTERS: DAIMLER-CHRYSLER MERGER NOT GOOD

To the editor:

Remember the Alamo, San Juan Hill, Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Bulge, Pork Chop Hill and a thousand other battlefields where the young me of America laid down their lives.

The euphoria over the recent news about the marriage made in heaven, the merger of Daimler-Benz of Germany and Chrysler Corp. of America leads me to believe that the leadership of this country choose to ignore the sacrifices made by our soldiers, sailors and marines on foreign fields.

One may ask what is the connection between this corporate merger and those sacred battle sites?

The future holds not promise that we will not be engaged in another conflagration even more horrid than these last few wars our country has fought.

Our great victor on land and sea in World War II was achieved by the bravery of our men in battle. But these brave men would have been helpless but for the great industrial might of our nation and the will of our citizens in farm and factory.

Chrysler was one of the great corporations which contributed to this task of producing war materiel for our boys.

Daimler-Benz will be the senior partner in this merger. The senior partner calls the tune that the company dances to. As an international global corporation, would they stand by America in a crisis?

"Mega" is the word bandied about these days. Megabanks. Megamanufacturers. Megahog farms. These so-called megaglobal corporations feel they owe no loyalty to any particular nation. The fact of the matter is that some have greater incomes and budgets than that of many nations.

With these huge funds at their disposal, they can corrupt governments and destroy the sovereignty of nations. Yet the regulating bodies of our own government are playing into their hands. Could this be a type of economic treason?

It appears to me we have been and are in an economic war which can be as devastating in the long run to the loser nation as a shooting war.

The destruction of an economy can be so insidious that the general population is unaware until, like a hidden cancer, it reveals itself in one fell swoop, wiping out jobs and investments alike.

Aggressive nations as well as giant corporations can wreak havoc with another nation's economy through currency manipulations along with the corruption of public officials.

The creation of a gigantic, multinational auto corporation may be another nail in the coffin of America's defense industry. When our nation can no longer provide materiel to wage an effective defense, our independence and freedom will be compromised.

Remember Pearl Harbor.

CLARENCE C. DAUGHERTY

Chaffee