As a Vietnam veteran, emergency nurse, and assistant professor of nursing, I appreciate Geraldine Gorman's right to voice her opinion ("Are We Ready Yet?" Viewpoint, January). But I disagree with her antiwar stance, and I thank Dan Mullen for so elegantly expressing his support of our troops in Iraq (Viewpoint, "Nurses, Duty, and War," June).

Where does the International Council of Nurses [ICN] get off telling me what to think as a nurse? I grieve the loss of any life. But those who encourage us to join in their pacifist endeavor because of our profession suffer from tunnel vision and have forgotten the September 11 attacks and the attack on the USS Cole. Terrorism, at home or abroad, must be confronted. Our rights and freedoms are maintained by constant vigilance, and we will lose them if we allow ourselves to be lulled by isolationist rhetoric.

Lucinda A. Drohn, MSN, RN

Lynchburg, VA