Mark Kelly

Capt. Mark Kelly

As a former Navy enlisted and officer, I am concerned with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s pursuit of punishment for Capt. Mark Kelly, the Democratic senator from Arizona, saying our military personnel could disobey illegal orders. Capt. Kelly had a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy. He served as a Navy pilot flying combat missions during the Gulf War. Subsequently he was an astronaut piloting two space missions and commanding two more missions.

Capt. Kelly should be able to comment on any matters in accordance with his First Amendment right of freedom of speech.

During the Vietnam War, Lt. William Calley was accused of the slaughter of Vietnamese in the My Lai Massacre of March 1968. He tried to use the defense he was acting on the orders of a superior, but a jury found him guilty of murder.

The U.S. Manual of Courts-Martial states that service members have a duty to disobey an order that “a man of ordinary sense and understanding would know to be illegal.”

Secretary Hegseth should not impose any punishments on Capt. Kelly for his statement about disobeying illegal orders.

Donald Moskowitz

Londonderry, NH

Boston safety

As I read the recent news story (“An instant nightmare,” Boston Herald, June 23) concerning a pedestrian dragged to her death in Mattapan, it made me wonder once again just how safe Boston actually is. A 32-year-old woman who just wanted to go to her bank in Mattapan was run down and killed by a driver who was allegedly fleeing the scene of another accident, according to police.

This incident sparked a debate by Boston city councilors over the root cause of this fatality. Two progressive members of the council, Enrique Pepen and Henry Santana both issued statements calling the death a “tragedy” but seemingly avoided acknowledging that alleged criminal activity was to blame.

Councilor Santana wanted to focus on “long-term prevention” and incredibly called for safer street infrastructure. Perhaps, if there were more speed bumps out there in Mattapan, this woman would be alive today? What is this councilor talking about “long term prevention?” The only long-term prevention is to get criminal drivers off our roads and lock them up.

Kudos to both City Councilors Erin Murphy and Edward Flynn. Neither of them are buying this idea that safer street infrastructure would have prevented this death. Flynn is correct: we need “zero tolerance for any criminal activity.”

I agree with Flynn, the status quo is no longer working or an option. We need to move beyond speed bumps and folks must be held accountable in court and face the consequences of unacceptable behavior.

Sergeant Sal Giarratani, Ret.

Metro Boston Area DMH PD

Boston