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Our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to protect our rights and basic freedoms. From freedom of speech to freedom to protest, we were allowed certain things within the legal limit of the law to express how we feel and to help us correct what problems our government has.

I have no doubt that the Founding Fathers never in their wildest dreams imagined citizens of this very country would use the freedoms earned by the blood and tears of young men and women to desecrate their burials ("Dead Marine’s dad ordered to pay protesters’ court costs," article, March 31).

I respect religion and my own pastor taught me a lot about life and what’s important. I joined the Marines understanding that there are people who are against war and the military in general, but this isn’t an ideal world and we don’t live off of the good graces of our neighbors. Our soldiers defend our country and, as corrupt and tainted as people would like to believe [it is], we still have a plethora of freedoms unattainable by people around the world.

I was born in another country, and the mere memory of showering in the rain and scrounging for what little money we had to bribe a corrupt policeman patrolling the neighborhood for money instead of criminals was enough to make me understand the importance of what we have.

I understand some people are against homosexuals serving in the military and that’s another argument altogether. However, this is about a man who lost a son and still people harassed him. Did they lose a child? Did they lose a family member?

They can say "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" all they want, but how would they feel if I stood at their funeral holding a "Thank Priests for Molestation" sign?

People always point the finger until they realize their own wrongs. We’re all born with sins. How is desecrating a man’s funeral going to amend them?

Lance Cpl. Khoi D. TrieuCamp Leatherneck, Afghanistan

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