Letter: Becker had qualifications no other candidate had
Although election time was near, the Tri-City Herald should have allowed responses to the Nov. 3 article on Lloyd Becker running for a Richland City Council position.
Becker was the only candidate that took straight-on, in a non-PC way, city management, city council members and his opposition, who did not show up for any of the “meet the candidates” meetings.
He served one year in jail, for a nonviolent crime, committed more than 10 years ago.
Correctly, the TCH noted that his run for councilman was legal, but implied that he was therefore a person not to be trusted.
The article doesn’t mention Becker spent two tours of duty — 18 months, from January 1969 to December 1971 — fighting in Vietnam.
In those times, it was PC to disparage our troops for doing what our country drafted them to do.
Lloyd volunteered.
That war cost 58,220 American lives and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, for nothing.
Not one of the candidates for councilmen had that qualification.
Robert L. Benedetti, Richland
(Editor’s note: The Herald mentioned in its editorial that Becker was a veteran.)
This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Letter: Becker had qualifications no other candidate had."