The Costs of War - NYTimes.com As someone whose boots were on the ground in Vietnam, I very much appreciate Frank Bruni's description of "What War Means" (column, Sept. My white cane is an everyday reminder of war's cost to me. Mr. Bruni is right to list the lasting effects of wartime service on soldiers and their families (we seldom dwell on the lasting devastation in the places where our boots were on the ground). The secretaries of state and defense should be less cavalier in discussing possible attacks; as war veterans, they, at least, should know better.