PICTURES TELL a story words can only hint at. For example, the image of our commander in chief at Dover Air Force Base viewing caskets of recently slain American troops from a bloody week in Afghanistan (“Witness to the toll of war,’’ Page A1, Oct. 30). The photo expresses his inner consciousness on sending more troops to an eight-year-old war. It illustrates his silent choice, after talking to all the commanders and military experts, to view the expected results of what his decisions on conducting the war will bring before taking action.
As a combat infantry Vietnam veteran, I admire this one photo as the single most sincere insight into the man we elected president thus far in his administration. One wonders whether President Johnson could have saved America from an agonizing defeat in Southeast Asia had he too paused and taken a moment to view the casualties of war up close and personal before expanding the troop levels to a half million.
Robert Schledwitz
Newburyport 
