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SEPTEMBER 15, 2007 I would not classify myself as a coward and in fact have, at times in my life, acted quite bravely in the face of danger. Most men, and increasingly more women wonder, as did I in my youth, how they will respond when under the fire of enemy guns. It is an age-old question, which cannot be answered until you are actually in a real life and death situation and then, before you even have time to think about it, you have your answer. My experience under fire was relatively short… three days of intense fighting in the lowlands of South Viet Nam. Overall, I would say I did as well as any of my compatriots and in fact, in the face of the enemy, some even considered me a hero. Now, before you start thinking I am on another one of my bragging sprees, I must tell you that there is another side to me that I am not so proud of and talking about it, even today, can make me sick to my stomach. I suppose it is inherent in most of us, or maybe it is just put there by well meaning parents; ‘RESPECT your elders, your teachers, your government, your country, and any one who puts themselves over you. Never question, never doubt, and do not judge for GOD is in control and HE will punish the unjust’... Good advice for Sunday school children, but the Marine Corp is not Sunday school and while it demands the same Blind Faith obedience to its officers as the church requires of its Pastors, the price of breaking the code of conduct on the battlefield, could be a bullet in the back of your head. Two incidences, that happened on the same day back in 1968, changed my life forever and set in motion a conflict that has been raging inside of me ever since. It got me court marshaled and has caused me to be fired from every job I have ever held. It hit me harder then any bullet ever could have and caused more internal damage then all of the bombs and mortars that were dropped around me. It ripped the innocence from my soul and forced me on an endless journey of recompense, for a debt that can not be repaid. I witnessed the murder of two children and did nothing to stop it. What is it that makes us hesitate to get involved, when we see one of those in authority over us doing something we know is wrong? Why do even brave men hesitate to stop a friend from doing evil? Why can we judge an enemy we have never met and determine he should die simply because he is our enemy yet find it so difficult to judge a friend, even though we have witnessed his wrongdoings? These questions have haunted me ever since that day when I was ordered not to treat the bleeding wounds of a young victim of our bombing. I obeyed like I was taught in Sunday school and watched him bleed to death in his mother’s arms, and all I needed to do is disobey the order and perhaps the child would be alive today... and later that same day, when we captured a young boy with a green colored shirt, which he said he had taken from a dead man because he had no clothes of his own, and the Captain ordered him killed because headquarters had said we were not to take any prisoners that day, but there was no evidence, other then the green colored shirt, to suggest he was a soldier, yet I did nothing to stop them from dragging him away and now I must see his horrified eyes pleading with me, day after day, to do something... but I can’t, and though I may help 10,000 others like him I have to admit that I let him die because I was afraid to say “STOP! You have no right to kill him.” I no longer believe in violence but I do believe in confrontation when it is against evil. The Bible says in Genesis: GE 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. To subdue implies action on our part. GOD knew he was sending mankind into a wild and unruly world and HE told us to tame it. I don’t think that means to beat it into submission; I believe HE wanted us to just get along with each other and make this world a nice place for Him to return to. Isn’t it about time we started doing what HE asked us to do in the beginning, instead of waiting for Him to do something. Jesus did not start a rebel group to fight the evils of His day but neither did HE back down in the face of hypocrisy and wrongdoing. HE called them on it to their face and then instructed us to do the same as HE had done. I failed in my youth to follow His example and have had to pay a price. I have tried since then to call people to accountability and it has cost me every job I have held. I do not regret this however because it has taught me to have a better understanding of humankind and it also has brought me closer to the GOD I serve. I still get discouraged at times when I see the greed and evildoings of selfish men and women but find some solace in the knowledge that the Flame of Compassion that now burns in my heart will one day become the Tormenting Fire in the self-imposed hells of those who have rejected IT in this life. I have written this letter to make public my support for those citizens of the United States who will go to Washington D.C. on September 15, 2007 to voice their disapproval of the war in Iraq. While I may not be in total agreement with them on all of the issues, I do believe in a Democracy that makes it the right and duty of all of its citizens to openly confront those who are in authority, when it is felt that they have misused the power entrusted to them. Let us pray that the results of this March will bring about changes in our Government that will put us on a road toward making Peace with the rest of Earth’s Inhabitants. Sincerely, Wayne Dale Matthysse A proud member of Veterans For Peace
WRITINGS ON THE WALL To a Warring GOD they sacrificed, Sons and Daughters, Husbands, Wives,
Believing HE would truly bless, Their pains to wipe out godlessness,
But in the end to their surprise, HE looked at them through tearful Eyes,
Than heard HIM say with trembling Voice, “Depart from ME, I have no Choice”,
For much was written, more was said, But few have listened, fewer read,
The Fingered Writings on the wall, “It’s Love not hate, which conquers all.”
Wayne Dale Matthysse
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