i just had to reprint one last letter

because this one hits the nail on the head without even swinging.

According to the Army Times, the Army and Marine Corps are recalling more than 18,000 body-armor vests because they failed ballistic requirements when they were manufactured in 1999-2000.

Many of those vests may now be in the war zone. The Nov. 16 recall order is the second in six months for the Marines. The Corps recalled more than 5,000 vests in May. All of the vests involved were produced by the same manufacturer, Point Blank Body Armor Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., under contract to the Marine Corps.

The first recall, and a subsequent investigation that led to the second recall, came in response to a Marine Corps Times investigation that showed that the Corps knowingly accepted vests that failed to meet requirements in 2003 and 2004.

This is the Bush administration's version of "support the troops."

—Frank P. Belcastro, Dubuque.