Why be shocked by decorated vet using that word?

To the editor:

It irritates the bejabbers out of me when self-appointed right-wing scolds like David Limbaugh ("Kerry's mouth") get on their high horses for the purpose of lecturing their fellow citizens. This time he's lecturing to U.S. Sen. John Kerry about using the F word. I am a veteran but did not serve, as Kerry did, in the Vietnam War. Placid and nonviolent peacetime vet that I am, never having heard a shot fired in anger, I heard that word more times during the day than you will ever know. It was the favorite word of everybody, from unit commanders down to lowly recruits. It would be impossible for an author or screenwriter to catch the flavor of military life while shunning the use of it. That Limbaugh would be shocked by hearing it from a vet -- a decorated combat vet -- just floors me.

D. STERRETT MILLER

Tamms, Ill.