The Soldiers At My Front Door

[BaliBabyDoc]

disturbing

But I was surprised the following morning to hear 75 soldiers singing, shouting and screaming as they jogged down Main Street, passed our St. Joseph?s church, back and forth around town for an hour. It was 6 a.m., and they woke me up with their war slogans, chants like ?Kill! Kill! Kill!? and ?Swing your guns from left to right; we can kill those guys all night.?

Suddenly, at 7 a.m., the shouting got dramatically louder. I looked out the front window of the house where I live, next door to the church, and there they were--all 75 of them, standing yards away from my front door, in the street right in front of my house and our church, shouting and screaming to the top of their lungs, ?Kill! Kill! Kill!? Their commanders had planted them there and were egging them on.

I was astonished and appalled. I suddenly realized that I do not need to go to Iraq; the war had come to my front door. Later, I heard that they had deliberately decided to do their exercises in front of my house and our church because of my outspoken opposition to the war.

I decided I had to do something. I put on my winter coat and walked out the front door right into the middle of the street. They stopped shouting and looked at me, so I said loudly, publicly for all to hear, ?In the name of God, I order all of you to stop this nonsense, and not to go to Iraq. I want all of you to quit the military, disobey your orders to kill, and not to kill anyone. I do not want you to get killed. I want you to practice the love and nonviolence of Jesus. God does not bless war. God does not want you to kill so Bush and Cheney can get more oil. God does not support war. Stop all this and go home. God bless you.?

Their jaws dropped, their eyeballs popped and they stood in shock and silence, looking steadily at me. Then they burst out laughing. Finally, the commander dismissed them and they left.

Later, military officials spread lies around town that I had disrupted their military exercises at the Armory, so they decided to come to my house and to the church in retaliation. Others appealed to the archbishop to have me kicked out of New Mexico for denouncing their warmaking. Then, a general called the mayor and asked him to mediate ?negotiations? with me, saying he did not want the military ?in confrontation? with the church. Really, the mayor told me, they fear that I will disrupt the gala send-off next month, just before Christmas, when the soldiers go to Iraq.

Just another Hollywood liberal that loves Saddam . . .

John Dear is a Catholic priest, peace activist, lecturer, and former executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. His latest books include ?Mohandas Gandhi? (Orbis) and ?Mary of Nazareth, Prophet of Peace? (Ave Maria Press).

 

[CaptnKirk]

Thats a real pin-head commander to put his troops in a situation like that.
Use their Gung-Ho preparation and their getting ready to perform a service
to their country to force a confrontation with a Priest in the morning.

The Soldiers themselves had no choice, probably were as surprised as anyone
to suddenly have a Priest in front of them speaking as a mouthpiesce for God,
and asking them to disarm and dis-obey thier commander.

I can see the push to get the troops psyched up for what they will be doing in a
foriegn country in a combative role, but to turn that psyche against our clergy in
our country is a very stupid thing to have done.
Whoever that commander is he should be stripped of his command and forced
out of the service. He is not worthy of being in a leadership role where troops
under his command are used to push against our own countrymen, regardless
of their personal feelings - hawk or pacifist.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Is there any validation for this?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Thats a real pin-head commander to put his troops in a situation like that.
Use their Gung-Ho preparation and their getting ready to perform a service
to their country to force a confrontation with a Priest in the morning.

The Soldiers themselves had no choice, probably were as surprised as anyone
to suddenly have a Priest in front of them speaking as a mouthpiesce for God,
and asking them to disarm and dis-obey thier commander.

I can see the push to get the troops psyched up for what they will be doing in a
foriegn country in a combative role, but to turn that psyche against our clergy in
our country is a very stupid thing to have done.
Whoever that commander is he should be stripped of his command and forced
out of the service. He is not worthy of being in a leadership role where troops
under his command are used to push against our own countrymen, regardless
of their personal feelings - hawk or pacifist.

If the described events did indeed take place then I agree. The underlying cause behind such actions bespeaks of the mentally unbalanced.

 

[burnedout]

?Swing your guns from left to right; we can kill those guys all night.? ??????

I'd like to hear the National Guard CO's version of the story, and possibly that from a third party, before commenting further.

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: burnedout
?Swing your guns from left to right; we can kill those guys all night.? ??????

I'd like to hear the National Guard CO's version of the story, and possibly that from a third party, before commenting further.

I hope they weren't swinging their guns from left to righ Their rifles, ok


Full Metal Jacket reference continued....

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk

Whoever that commander is he should be stripped of his command and forced
out of the service. He is not worthy of being in a leadership role where troops
under his command are used to push against our own countrymen, regardless
of their personal feelings - hawk or pacifist.

considering our adminstration, i imagine he will get a promotion.

 

[gsaldivar]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
Is there any validation for this?

Most likely, not.

Nothing to see here... move along.

 

[sandorski]

If true, it is very disturbing.