Voters and the elected

Looking at so many of our country’s officeholders and thinking wishfully about characteristics of people we’d like to see in office, I made a list.

We need leaders who are wise enough to know they must constantly learn, strong enough to be patient when necessary, and courageous enough to practice compassion whenever possible.

What would we, the voters, need to be able to choose such people? We would need discipline enough to dig for real information instead of swallowing catchphrases, and vision enough to act on something better than misguided fear and anger. CHARLEY SANDAGE

Mountain View

That fateful night, 19 crew members perished in the Pacific Ocean. The four that were rescued spent nine hours in the water.

It is right and just that we pay homage to the brave souls lost due to hostilities, but I sometimes think we tend to ultimately overlook incidents such as this; lives lost in training or non-hostile yet deadly military activities. I’m not aware of any ongoing recognition of such lives lost outside battle, but theirs are just as precious to their families and they are just as dead in the service of their country as those who fell in combat. Perhaps it is time recognition of such sacrifice be more formalized.

JAMES H. BARRÉ

Little Rock