We pay only $97.50 a month for a life

I am a native Pittsburgher. Born and reared in Clairton. I now live in Grove City, Ohio, just outside Columbus. Mary Ganguli’s column “J.D., we hardly. knew ye” (Nov. 18) is very well written and interesting. I learned a lot about J.D. Vance I did not know (haveyet to read his book).

I take extreme exception to one of Ms. Ganguli’s statements and that is the one where she writes, ‘he joined the military where he continues to be supported by the taxpayer’.

As a former US Marine and Vietnam veteran, I was NOT supported by the taxpayer. I earned my pay, which, by the way, was less than a hundred bucks a month. The taxpayer paid my salary but what the taxpayer got in return was a hell of a lot more than money. What the taxpayer got was a promise I made, via a contractual agreement with the US government, that I would lay down my life to protect the taxpayer. My life for less than a hundred bucks a month. That’s a hell of a bargain for the taxpayer.

No, Ms. Ganguli. The taxpayer did not support me. I earned my pay and did it the old fashioned way: my life for $97.50/month. Ms. Ganguli owes an apology to every woman and man US veteran who signed the agreement, a life for a few bucks.

RICK WEBER Grove City, OH