Regarding the Oct. 20 article "Four (U.S.) marines investigated for rape": What does one expect from a woman who is working in a bar? Has anyone asked if she was paid for services? Why would any woman leave with four men from a bar? She must have known what kind of situation she was in from the get-go. Why did she wait to make the report to the police?

When I was assigned to Tachikawa Air Base, there was a saying that "you can take the girl out of the bar, but you can't take the bar out of the girl." I know what type of people work in these places, so please don't make a hasty judgment about these four defenders of your country. Give this some thought: If the U.S. military were to leave Japan, who would keep China and maybe the North Koreans from coming in to take your country.

I'm starting to think that the United States should remove its military from all overseas locations and let all those countries fend for themselves. Maybe then everyone would see just how important we really are. The U.S. should take care of its highest priority -- the defense of its own homeland. Have we baby-sat the Japanese too long?

manuel sandoval