It really got my blood boiling. ''But there are a number of questions that need to be asked,'' Thomas writes. ''Like in an investigation?'' I ask.

I would like to know where Mr. Thomas was during the Vietnam War. Was he one of those student deferment patriots going to divinity school? Did he consider it more important to get his education and a deferment than to serve his country in Vietnam where he may have gotten killed? ...

If Mr. Thomas and his Republican friends in Congress are going to investigate Mr. Kerrey and his Navy Seal commando team about the tragic events that occurred at Thanh Phong in 1969, then I want them to investigate the commander in chief, George W. ''Jet Jockey'' Bush. We know the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives called the head of the Air National Guard in 1968 and got the ''cocky punk'' into the Guard and moved to the head of the line for pilot training. We also know he was transferred to the Alabama Guard in 1972.

His orders, dated Sept. 15, 1972, said Lt. Bush should report to Lt. Col. William Turnipseed, to perform equivalent training. ''To my knowledge he never showed up,'' Mr. Turnipseed said last month. ''It's my understanding he did some politicking in Alabama and doesn't quite know what he did in the Alabama Guard and described it as 'paper shuffling.'''

To quote Mr. Thomas: ''There are a number of questions that need to be asked.''

This is written by a Purple Heart combat veteran of the Korean War, 1950.

Richard D. Renew, Martinez, Ga.