In his letter published in the Jan. 4 edition of the Daily Journal, Mr. Robert Parkhurst says that, while President Franklin D. Roosevelt did some good things, anyone who calls him a hero must be very old or very young. I am neither, and I am surprised that no mention was made of his pivotal and heroic role in the greatest peril this country has ever faced in the Axis of Japan, Germany and Italy, which was on a mission to enslave the world.

I understand that, while Mr. Parkhurst may not be Jewish, homosexual, gypsy or have developmental disabilities, all those who were would have been slated for, well, let’s call it like it really was — enslavement, torture and execution.

President Roosevelt’s stalwart leadership of our nation was an inspiration to the entire country, and he should rightly be called a hero, not just by this country, but by the entire free world. I guess that little thing called World War II doesn’t figure into the letter writer’s equation. Remind me not to ask for historical perspectives from him. If President Roosevelt had done nothing else, his leadership during this extreme crisis proves he’s an American hero for all time.

John Dillon

San Bruno