Morale Value Of Beer Explained By Ex-Soldier From The Spokesman-Review, Nov. 12, 1950

Tue., Oct. 26, 1999

To the editor of The Spokesman-Review:

It irks me that Mrs. H.B. Hendricksen of Kalispell has the audacity to compare the war in Korea with a game of athletics. Athletics indeed! Granted that soldiers and athletes should be in as near top physical condition as possible. But what about mental condition as well? What does the athlete do that compares with the terrible mental and physical ordeal that the combat soldier has to endure to save the skins of the very same people who would deny him what little comfort and morale builder he is able to obtain?

No self-appointed crusader for better morals can tell me that a can of beer is not a definite morale builder for the combat soldier who cares to drink it, or that the knowledge that certain individuals are conspiring to deny the fighting man that small measure of comfort while he is risking his life for them is not just as great a morale breaker.

As a veteran of seven years in the army, including the African and Italian campaigns, I think I know what I am talking about. I served in actual combat in some of the ruggedest fighting over there and I still remember how good a bottle of beer tasted on Anzio and some of the other places, even with the knowledge that I might not live to finish the drink. Robert W. Skibby Republic, Wash.

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