Since the appointment of Leslie Kelly as editor of the Central Kitsap Reporter and the Bremerton Patriot newspapers, both publications have taken on a decidedly leftist slant.

While previous editorials were enough to make me grumble, an opinion piece that ran in the Nov.7 edition entitled “No glory in war for this veteran,” goes beyond the pale.

The editorial, written by Andrew Larkin (who also writes for PeaceVoice), is so slanted and so denigrates the heroic actions of our veterans that it should never have been printed in newspapers which serve a military community such as ours.

That it would be published just before Veterans Day shows how much contempt the editor of these publications holds for our military, the people who have served in it and our nation as a whole.

There really is no excuse for running such an editorial.

No amount of rationalization about how the intent was to “stimulate discussion‚“ or “present other points of view” or taking a “balanced approach” can undo the hurt that this spiteful, vicious and downright nihilistic editorial has done.

Sound Publishing and Ms. Kelly have done a grave disservice to our community.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with these words from Charles M. Province, U.S. Army;

It is the soldier, not the reporter

who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet,

who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,

who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,

who serves beneath the flag,

and whose coffin is draped by the flag,

who allows the protestor to burn the flag.

Charles Ely

Bremerton