| Author |
Message |
Seekr777
Registered user
Username: Seekr777
Post Number: 495
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 4:52 pm: |     |
Thank you all, I'm not sure if I've ever shared that online before with a group. It is amazing what is burned into your memory from different times in your life.
I still remember the night I decided to be a CO and not carry a weapon. I remember the couch I was sitting on, I was sitting on the far right end of it, and it was late after everyone else had gone to bed. I was asking myself specific questions as to why I felt that way and making sure it was not because it was the way I'd grown up or been taught by the church. It had to be my decision.
I had friends of mine who decided to carry weapons and I still have buddys from back then whose decision to carry a weapon I applaud and honor. For me it was very personal.
I carry that right to life over into my feelings about the death penalty, abortion etc. I've heard most of the scriptural reasons for other positions and I can understand them but I'm just not comfortable on a personal level.
Are there other viable and honestly arrived at positions YES and I will honor and defend the right of others to differ from me.
While in Nam I met a guy who did not feel he could even serve in the service and I was very impressed in how he went to Nam in wartime and worked in an orphanage with the orphans of war. I even spent a couple of days with him working with the kids. We slept in the attic of a local church.
Sorry folks this is just opening all types of memories. Just a year ago . . . 35 years after serving i was sitting in a Starbucks and a VERY young army officer walked in and I'm not sure how but we started to talk while he was waiting. I was asking about what unit he was with etc and he learned I had been in Nam as a medic. As he turned to go I heard him say something and I realized he had said just one word . . . Thanks . . . and had saluted me. I had to turn away because I was tearing up. In fact I am now. At that time it was only the third time any one had said thanks. One of the others had been my Dad some years before.
I'm amazed, I almost never think about any of this. I must be I'm tired or ?? 
well enough of this.
My prayers are with each person here as we study to understand and draw closer to our Savior.
Richard
rtruitt@mac.com
PS: again please keep our small study group in your prayers, this is the weekend we will have our first public study group (we have met in homes before) at the church. I've sent to some of you the anouncement that was sent out to the entire email list of the church. If you want to see it just send me email and I'll send it back to you. I think Cherry did a great job of outlining what we will be studying and inviting others to the study.
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Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady
Post Number: 2511
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 6:54 pm: | |
Richard,
Thanks for sharing with us those memories. I truly do appreciate it as I realize what each of you that served in Vietnam went through.
I will continue to remember your study group in my prayers.
Isn't it wonderful, how awesome God is??
Diana |
Melissa
Registered user
Username: Melissa
Post Number: 1379
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 9:06 pm: | |
My uncle was also in Nam, Richard. He had the dubious job of loading the body bags on the air planes to come home. I'm amazed at how he has moved forward and really never looked back. He's had a 40+ year marriage and though they fuss, they are best friends. None of the horror stories I've heard from others. But he also does not like to even talk about it now. He's not a christian and I grieve for him for that, but he is one of my most respected uncles for his courage and character. He retired after 25 or 30 years in the air force. |
Heretic
Registered user
Username: Heretic
Post Number: 262
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 10:46 pm: | |
Richard,
I'm a little late to the party in reading these posts, but I, too, would also like to offer you a huge thank you for your service to our country. You're a hero in my book.
I have great respect for medics and perhaps one reason is that my grandfather served as one with General Patton's 3rd army in Europe during WW2. When I was a kid I used to ask him frequently to tell me stories about the war. At that point most of what I knew about the war came from John Wayne movies and I had a very sterile view of what the war must have been like. He very seldom gave me details and when he did it was usually about things that occured away from the battlefield. My grandmother told me later that she was the only one he would truly open up to about his experiences and still had flashbacks and night terrors into his seventies when he died. And being a medic was often just as dangerous as being a combatant. My grandfather did tell me that several other medics he knew and served with were killed, and at least one or two happened in his presence. The Nazis were even known to use the red cross on a medic's helmet as a target.
I was also priviledged enough to meet true American hero Desmond Doss when he came to my academy to speak for an assembly and in government class he came in for a Q & A time. His was such an amazing story.
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Freeindeed
Registered user
Username: Freeindeed
Post Number: 22
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 11:11 pm: | |
I haven't been reading for a couple of weeks. Life has been too busy.
Thank you so much to those of you who served our country in the military. I have the deepest respect for you and cannot express the depth my gratitude in simple words. But thank you.
Freeindeed |
Seekr777
Registered user
Username: Seekr777
Post Number: 496
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, May 05, 2006 - 11:19 pm: | |
I also met and heard Desmond speak. He seemed so quiet, he didn't fit the mold of one who won the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I had to smile when you mentioned the "red cross". In Nam NO ONE wore a red cross. It was VERY unhealthy and would probably shorten your life to be identified as a medic. In fact we didn't even carry easily identified aid bags. Ammo pouches worked just fine since medics were primary targets, ranked right after the officer and radioman. I think they knew if we were gone others might not make it as well.
As one guy said Nam was long streaches of great boredom interrupted by moments of terror and confusion. When we were attacked our first responsibility was to protect the patients in our Mash Unit. We'd first get them on the floor if possible and then cover them with mattress's. Oh those were the days.
It is sad when you meet a guy who is still measuring life by his time in Nam.  There are more men than most realize who are homeless and have fallen through the cracks. I've been able to help a few who I've met.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Tomorrow will be a long day and I believe God will use it to his glory as we meet.
richard
rtruitt@mac.com
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Mwh
Registered user
Username: Mwh
Post Number: 11
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 3:30 pm: | |
Seems that past SDA's fought in WWII
"The German Adventists continued to support Hitler and his regime until the end of World War II. The Adventists served loyally in the armed services, but most served in combatant positions and rose within the ranks."
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/holocaust/Research/Proseminar/corrieschroder.htm |
Helovesme2
Registered user
Username: Helovesme2
Post Number: 502
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 4:00 pm: | |
Yes MWH. Thanks for posting that link! I'd intended to add it to the other links I listed in an earlier post, but somehow missed it!
IIRC, historically noncombatancy has been most popular in English speaking countries, while Combatancy rates were comparitively high in non-English speaking countries. One theory as to why was the lower EGW literacy in the non-English speaking countries.
She was known in Europe though. L. R. Conradi, a strong pro-military involvement German church leader, spoke out strongly against her claims. |
91steps
Registered user
Username: 91steps
Post Number: 41
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 4:47 pm: | |
When I worked at the GC I experienced a great deal of hostility from life long SDA's due to my Military Service, as a Combatant. This was long before I became an SDA and don't regret one second of my time, despite some of the horrors I witnessed.
What sickens me is how SDA's won't serve in the Military yet they LOVE their FREEDOMS!!! I hope I don't step on any toes, but it was the Combatants that have and still do afford us those freedoms today.
I respect anyone's choice not to bear arms, but please do not knock those of us who did. |
Helovesme2
Registered user
Username: Helovesme2
Post Number: 503
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 4:52 pm: | |
Not knocking them here!
Mary |
Colleentinker
Registered user
Username: Colleentinker
Post Number: 3911
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 8:52 pm: | |
Nor am I! Thank you for your service also, 91Steps.
Colleen |
Flyinglady
Registered user
Username: Flyinglady
Post Number: 2515
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 07, 2006 - 9:10 pm: | |
Nor me either. I always like to thank each and very person that I meet who has served in the military.
I have told before how when my son learned to read he fell in love with WW2 and the P51 Mustang airplane. He wanted to become an Air Force officer. He asked me why God gave him such desires and interests when the SDA church believed differently. My answer was completely non SDA. It was, Talk to God about it. He did and he is now a captain in the Air Force. He spent 9 years in the VA Air National Guard before becoming an officer.
So I thank you again for your service. It is very much appreciated.
Diana |
