What Was Lost

David Lamb’s article (Nov. 23), “Vietnam Correspondents Gather for Reunion,” reveals quite a lot about the slants and misperceptions of those who reported on the war.

The failures of some reporters to understand what was at stake is illustrated by a quote attributed to former New York Times reporter Gloria Emerson: “. . . And I look back and I wonder, if indeed we had won the war, what is it exactly that we would have won?” Surely it is time for reporter Emerson to look at some of the evidence. Perhaps she could learn something from looking at what was lost by those who lost the most.

Almost any of the Vietnam refugees now in the United States could enlighten her about losses of lives, homes and freedoms after North Vietnam took over. If she really looked, perhaps she could find a Cambodian refugee who could tell her about the third of the country’s former population of 7 million people who were murdered.

If reporter Emerson becomes truly interested in learning what was lost, she might want to think about the consequences of the control over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos that has been imposed by the Soviet Union. I wonder whether she realizes that the Soviet Union has control over the ports and bases in that area, including the naval base at Cam Ranh Bay--the largest, best deep water port in Southeast Asia.

WILLIAM E. BARBER

Irvine