To the Editor:
In his article "In '72 speech, a different kind of Kerry" (The Dartmouth, March 5) Matthew Kelly reported the following: "In his 1972 speech, Kerry lashed at then-President Richard Nixon, claiming that he was personally responsible for over 130,000 Vietnam casualties a month."
U.S. servicemen deaths peaked at 543 in April 1969, three months after Nixon arrived in office, and declined steadily thereafter. In addition, 72 allied servicemen were killed that month. Even assuming a 10-to-1 ratio of Vietnamese to American casualties, that brings us to just over 6,000 dead in the peak month.
My points: (1) somebody's math is way off; (2) attributing these casualties to Nixon is a little loopy, since almost all of the build-up occurred before he took office.
