It is important to be sensitive to the reactions of children as they continue to ask questions about the war in the Persian Gulf, just ended. During the first few days of the conflict, Cable News Network (CNN) brought us up-to-the-minute coverage, live from Baghdad as the bombing raids began. To a small child, this …
”Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness.” (II Timothy 2:23-25). A little boy went to his father and asked “Daddy, what causes wars?” The father lifted his …
THE VICTORY SHIFTS What a difference a generation can make! Cousin Pearl saw her son watching the old movie, “Remember Pearl Harbor,” on a Sony TV set. From “The Way I Heer’d It” by Jim Reed, The Ozarks Mountaineer, May-June, 1985
RUST IN PEACE The best toast for the weapons of war is: “May they rust in peace!”
A PEACEFUL WAR There were picnic tables on the battlefield. Somehow battles and picnics don’t go together. But there they were – GUNS and BUNS. It was the first battle of Bull Run. Both sides, the North and the South thought the whole issue would be resolved rather quickly, and few seemed to take this …
PRAYER PRODUCED PEACE While my son, Kenny, was in Viet Nam, I prayed daily for his safety. I asked God to protect him during the fierce, savage and cruel battles in which he fought to liberate oppressed people. I also asked God to extend the security to include the long journey home. As I agonized …
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FRIENDLY FIRE A P-38 fighter simultaneously dropped two bombs. They glittered in the sun and reflected a silvery Christmas hue as they descended downward. Missiles flew toward the enemy. They resembled darts flying harmlessly through the air. These bombs and projectiles had been designed to destroy the enemy. Instead, they fell among those whose lives …
LUCKY WAR LESSONS Newsweek shows three American Sodiers on their knees, praying. The caption reads, “U.S. troops pray before the ground war.” Assuredly, their prayers were answered. We welcome them home! The conclusion of the author – who retired from the U.S. army in l971 was as follows: “I hope this war is the last …
LET OUR SENIORS BE USEFUL My wife and I took our grandchildren to visit my parents in Missouri. When we were ready to leave, my dad gave me a picture of myself. I had sent it to my parents during the second World War. I was dressed in my complete army uniform on which I …
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF Maybe it all depends on the vantage. David Rieff tells of a visit by the Argentine film maker Edgardo Cozarinsky, in the company of a Columbian, to the port of Palos, from which Columbus sailed. From there they stared west. Cozarinsky, a Jew from the pampas, said, “Here began our salvation.” But …
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THE MILITARY’S NEW IMAGE Last week’s television footage of Iraqi soldiers falling on their knees to kiss the hands of their U.S. Marine captors could be the defining visual of the war in the Persian Gulf. The videotape said it all: Saddam Hussein’s humiliation and the Allies’ triumph, the victors and the vanquished indelibly joined …
SUDDAM HUSSEIN: “A REAL ZERO” “Saddam was my classmate. He was not good in his studies. In fact, he was an imbecile. A real zero, especially in English. I tried to help him. I can’t believe that a dunce like him is now leading a country that threatens Israel. However, he was charismatic and he …
TRUSTED TO FAIL In the War of 1812, the American general, William Winder, in spite of having a four-to-one troop superiority over the British, led his army to defeat and was taken prisoner. The British, however, realized that Winder’s incompetence made him an ideal opponent so they returned him to the American army. Their trust …
TRUST IS NOT ENOUGH There was once a young son from an experienced veteran general. He had never been in battle, but he had thoroughly studied war strategy and history. His father, an experienced general agreed with his son’s strategy most of time, but he never used his son in battle. He told his son, …
THOUGHTS CONCERNING BATTLE I repeated my thoughts to my wife, but she said it was not difficult to understand about battlefields: The blood of the men killed on the field, and the bodies buried there, fertilize the ground and stimulate the growth of vegetation. That was all quite natural, she said. Yet, I could not …
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MARCHING INTO MARRIAGE “Music played at weddings always reminds me of the music played for soldiers before they go into battle.” Heinrich Heine From Dicky Love, Rushton, Louisiana
MARRIAGE ADVENTURE “Marriage is an adventure – like going to war.” G. K. Chesterton From Dicky Love, Rushton, Louisiana
EDUCATE FOR PEACE Let us make our enemies incapable of ever making war again, let us re-educate them, let us learn to live in peace and justice with all countries and all people in this world. To do this we must educate and re-educate. But first we must educate ourselves. — Ernest Hemingway
WAR IS A COWARDLY ESCAPE “War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.” By Thomas Mann
PRICELESS RESCUE The June 19, 1995 issue of Newsweek recounts the details of Captain O’Grady’s six day ordeal behind enemy lines. Tearing off his chute on the ground, he hid in the bushes while hostile Serbs shot at anything that moved in the brush. Over the next five days, O’Grady would survive on ants, plants, …
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