Suffolk University law professor says sending care packages to troops 'shameful'

It's a tradition that ranks with Mom and apple pie, and has been around almost as long as the Republic itself:  sending care packages to troops stationed far from home.

But a Suffolk University law professor says it's "shameful" to send packages to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines "who have gone overseas to kill other human beings."

Fox News reported:

Michael Avery, a professor at Suffolk University Law School, sent a five-paragraph email to colleagues in response to a school-wide appeal for care packages for deployed soldiers, Fox affiliate WFXT-TV reports.

"I think it is shameful that it is perceived as legitimate to solicit in an academic institution for support for men and women who have gone overseas to kill other human beings," he wrote in the email.

Ironically, Avery teaches constitutional law at Suffolk, and according to Fox, also opposes the huge American flag that has hung in the school's atrium since Sept 11, 2001, saying it is "not a politically neutral act."

"Excessive patriotic zeal is a hallmark of national security states. It permits, indeed encourages, excesses in the name of national security, as we saw during the Bush administration, and which continue during the Obama administration," Avery wrote. 

Perhaps, Avery is upset over a study that shows exposure to the American flag helps Republicans.

Has he forgotten that it is because of those brave men and women we have the Constitution, and the right to express our views?

On Monday, Paul Spera, a Vietnam veteran and former commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, called the professor's argument "despicable."

"The shameful thing is that he’s teaching our young people," he told FoxNews.com.

"One of the things that we've learned from Vietnam is to separate the warriors from the war. You can be opposed to the war -- you can disagree with the tactics and the political decision involved -- but the individuals on the battle field are there protecting us," he added, saying that "somebody has to stand up to this man.

And they have.

Fox reports the school has been inundated with complaints from students and alumni:

"There's individuals who really appreciate and need things we're sending," said student Kelly Bogua.

"I'm participating in it and I think a lot of people are regardless of the email. If anything, he really just discredited himself," she said.