Friday, October 11, 2013

VIDEO - 1967 Antiwar Protest at the Pentagon

1967 Antiwar Protest at the Pentagon
One of the largest anti-war protest of the Vietnam era took place in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 1967. Some 100,000 people convened on the city to show t...


·       In 1968 I was twenty-six years old. Richard Nixon was president and I thought he was the most evil man on the planet. The Viet Nam war was escalating and I knew the evil of war. Because I was a veteran, I felt I had extra reason to oppose an unjust war. I joined the Viet Nam Veterans Against the War (Yeah, John Kerry’s group) and actively resisted the war effort.

By 1974 my generation had run Richard Nixon out of office and ended the Viet Nam war by citizen action. Our troops were home. I was among many who felt very proud and self righteous about our victory over evil.

We were horribly, tragically wrong! 

The withdrawal of U.S. troops allowed the Communist government of North Viet Nam to kill hundreds of thousands of people. When the Communists finished that slaughter, they had a strong enough position to overthrow the Government in next door Cambodia.

April 17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell under the control the communist guerrilla group led by Pol Pot. In less than four years time, an estimated 2 million Cambodians died by execution in the “Killing Fields.” Almost every Cambodian family has lost at least one relative during this most gruesome holocaust. 

Good men did nothing and evil triumphed because much of America, like me and my buddies, were too young, idealistic, ignorant or naive to understand what was happening.

What evil awaits us if we do nothing about evils inflicted on others? Apathy is evil.

·    BE CAREFUL MY YOUNG FRIENDS WITH YOUR IDEALISM AND YOUR PASSIONATE COMMITMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD. YOU MAY END UP WITH SOMETHING MORE EVIL THAN WHEN YOU STARTED.


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1 comment:

Dr Lu said...

There's at least one factual error in this opening sentence: "In 1968 I was twenty-six years old. Richard Nixon was president and I thought he was the most evil man on the planet." In fact, Nixon was elected POTUS in November 1968; however, he did not take the oath of office until January 1969.

Since this article has no visible by-line, who is the "I" who was 26 in 1968 and thought Nixon was The Most Evil of Them All? Is it Sam Sewell, perchance?

In 1968 I was only a few years younger than 26. Several of my classmates lost their lives in Vietnam. At the time, I (naively) thought that the USA became involved in that war to fight the spread of communism. But I was also aware of the fact that it was a fight-with-one-hand-tied-behind-the-back conflict. Thus, it was inevitable that South Vietnam fell to the communists in the North after the USA withdrew. And, come to think of it, the USA hasn't won ANY wars since World War II.

Moreover, the communist government of Vietnam is persecuting Christians--as I type this sentence.
According to Persecution.com, the website of Voice of the Martyrs (founded by Richard Wurmbrand, who stripped to his waist during testimony before a committee of the US Congress to expose his scars received from torture by the Romanian communist regime), "According to VOM contacts, several Hmong families have been forced to leave their villages in northern Vietnam after coming to faith in Jesus. There are no Christians living in these villages because converts to Christianity are immediately expelled....Christian leaders in Vietnam are concerned that the passage of Decree 92/2012/ND-CP on Nov. 8, 2012, will further complicate efforts by Christians to meet and worship. The decree, which took effect on Jan. 1, details how to implement the Ordinance on Religion and Belief of 2004....A young couple who accepted Christ last month have been beaten and threatened by officials, according to a VOM worker. Local authorities hit the wife on the face with a stick and threatened to take the couple's land and home if they refuse to renounce Christianity and return to Buddhism...."

P.S.: Good to see you back on the blog, Sam! You seem to be making up for lost time.

October 13, 2013 at 3:29 PM

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