I have great admiration for our service members and especially for Defense Secretary James Mattis, a Marine of great fortitude and courage. It is a sad day to see him leave the administration.

My hope is that he announced his resignation because he genuinely felt that it was in the best interests of the country, not because he couldn’t work with the president or because he was unhappy with the situation. If either of the latter, it would have been better for us if he had toughed it out.

John Roediger

South Portland