Bernice R. Bild’s letter (“Weaponry waste,” Voice, July 19) suggested that the $3.9 trillion we spent on nuclear weapons should have been spent elsewhere, such as grants to citizens, hospitals, libraries, teachers, etc.
There is no doubt in my mind that if we hadn’t made these defense expenditures, we would all be speaking Russian, and at least this amount would have been extracted from our national resources and sent to Moscow. Apparently 50 different Congresses and all our presidents since 1945 agreed with me.
Additionally, Ms. Bild doesn’t seem to realize that much of this expenditure was paid in salaries and wages to hard-working Americans, not only uniformed military, but employees of defense contractors, subcontractors, engineers, miners, researchers, etc.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, we have made substantial cuts in these military expenditures, are continuing to make these cuts and should continue to make them. However, look at the furor being created by the potential loss of 20,000 or more jobs in California over the current proposed base closings there.
