War doesn't always end on battlefield

I admire what Lt. Col. Jaime Martinez has accomplished during his years in the military and my heart goes out to him in his struggle to regain his health.

(Martinez has been stricken with a cancer rare in the United States and more commonly found in people in Central Asia, North Africa and China, according to The Associated Press).

I have some idea of what he and his family are going through. My husband was an Agent Orange veteran (Vietnam era). The tragedy of our veterans suffering and dying as a result of long-term exposure to deadly toxins while defending our country is not a new story.

My husband fought two different cancers linked to exposure to Agent Orange. Now we, his family, are left to suffer his loss.

I have never written to any Opinion page before, but I felt I had to wish Lt. Col. Martinez all the best and to ask people to please remember and respect these veterans, whatever the era - Iraq, Afghanistan, or Vietnam - whether or not you agree with the politics that sent them there.

These are our people, and for many of them the war did not end when they came home.

Mary Neis

Lake Villa