Michael Avery, a professor at Suffolk University Law School, sent out a mass email in which he called a collection of care packages for U.S. military members stationed overseas "shameful" and described the U.S. armed services as men and women who have gone overseas to kill other human beings."
The email was sent out in response to a collection on campus for items such as sunblock and sanitary items to send to U.S. military members stationed overseas. He also wrote that sympathy for American troops in harm's way is "not particularly rational in today's world."
Paul Spera, a past commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, called the professor's argument "despicable." "The shameful thing is that he's teaching our young people," he added. "One of the things that we've learned from Vietnam is to separate the warriors from the war. You can be opposed to the war -- you can disagree with the tactics and the political decision involved -- but the individuals on the battle field are there protecting us," he said.
"Somebody has to stand up to this man," he continued, pointing out that the recipients of such care packages are willing to "lay their lives on the line for the freedoms that this man is abusing." Spera is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Army.
