American violence during Vietnam war urgently needs to be questioned

Sir, – All credit to Michael Alexander for asking the difficult question of the US pilot who fought in the Vietnam war in his article in the Weekend magazine (Real Life Maverick, November 12).

Asked whether he regretted killing unknown numbers of people, Mr Mitchell’s answer was to say that if he didn’t kill them, they’d kill him.

That response might hold water for a fighter pilot, but he himself admits many of his missions were bombing runs.

American bombing in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia killed something between 60,000 and 300,000 civilians. More bombs were dropped than on Germany and Japan together in the Second World War. Many of these munitions failed to explode at the time and are still causing casualties today.

The Americans also sprayed huge areas with Agent Orange, a cancercausing chemical which resulted in thousands of children with birth defects.

Mr Mitchell is undoubtedly a skilful pilot and a courageous man.

It is unfortunate that he cannot find it in himself to find some compassion for those who suffered from his country’s actions. Robert Cairns. Harrietfield, Perth.