Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Rarely am I compelled to write in opposition to a lawful march or protest. I’m universally willing to tolerate the shrill ranting of a despicable or eccentric few in the greater interest of freedom for all.

Charlottesville, however, cannot go unaddressed. To the white supremacists who descended, unwanted and uninvited, upon our fair state this weekend I say this: you certainly have a right to express yourself. Thankfully, so do I.

You say that you are superior, a master race of sorts? Absurd. I have served with African-Americans, Hispanics and countless others in combat from Mogadishu to Afghanistan and Iraq. I can assure you that these men with whom I have suffered hardships, danger and loss are ten times the men you are. They’re ten times the Americans you are. They are ten times better at the art of being a human being than you can ever hope to be. I would take a bullet for any one of them before I would take a handshake from any one of you. T...