To the editor:

I have voted Republican in the past. I served in the U.S. military for 20 years. It’s not my nature to speak up.

But my wife and I visited Sidney recently and only saw Trump-Pence signs. So I’m compelled to say: as a veteran with deep Sidney roots, please consider Ms. Clinton. For three reasons.

(1) I believe Ms. Clinton will be good for jobs and the economy. When I was an infant, my Mother and I lived in Sidney, while my Father, who’d been laid off, was in Michigan looking for work. When my brother and I spent boyhood summers in Sidney, we knew our grandfather’s job at Wagner Manufacturing, which made iron-cast pots and pans, meant dinner on the table.

Ms. Clinton’s father, served in the Navy, and had his own small business. Hillary Clinton has worked hard to develop specific plans for rural areas, farming, small businesses, infrastructure and manufacturing. And she lives by the religious creed her parents taught her of doing good for others.

(2) Ms. Clinton cares about veterans and military families. I was wounded in Vietnam and exposed to Agent Orange. Now, more than 50 years later, I still have multiple effects of the war. Ms. Clinton will address all wounds of war. And she’ll support military families and children, and encourage job opportunities for veterans. That’s respect.

(3) Ms. Clinton will be better than Donald Trump in protecting our nation. I recently was with retired military officers and veterans supporting Hillary Clinton, including a Republican, retired Admiral from Springfield, Ohio who served in the White House under President George Bush on 9/11. I agree with them that Ms. Clinton is much safer for America and our national security than Donald Trump.

The Commander-in-Chief has power most of us can hardly comprehend. I ask you to please consider the only candidate I feel should hold that power: Ms. Clinton. To me, Donald Trump would endanger America with that power.

The views expressed here are mine as an individual only, and not those of the Department of Defense.

Thank you,

Jack Sloan

Arlington, Virginia