Catherine Goegel: Hegseth appointment would dishonor sacrifices of many throughout history

To The Daily Sun,

America's response to the immoral and unethical actions of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany, Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan were front and center in the history curriculum of my early education in the 1950s. There was a pride in my country that we responded to tyranny in all its brutality against other people. There was pride in the people who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Stories of common folks doing heroic deeds and making the ultimate sacrifice became national folklore, such as the five Sullivan brothers. "Fighting" Father Duffy, and the men at Valley Forge, Belleau Wood. Normandy and Iwo Jima. There were heroes in more recent wars — John McCain and the nurses during VietNam. They sacrificed themselves to ensure a future America free from tyranny and guaranteed its citizens "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." We honor these people and call them heroes because they put their country first. This is what makes America great. The United States, as a beacon of hope, justice and moral courage to the rest of the world, will not be served well by the appointment of Peter Hegseth as secretary of defense. He has neither the qualifications, experience, nor moral character. His appointment would dishonor the sacrifices of the many throughout our history.

Catherine Goegel

Canterbury