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Hmm, no one welcomed me. Was it something I said, lol. Another chance?
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Jan 10, 2017 01:19:57   #
humanator
 
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p**********l e******n made me think abstaining might be a mistake. Let me explain.

After I came home from Viet Nam in '68, hailed a hero by family and friends that I did not deserve, having been forever safe in my job as crypto-clerk in Saigon from any harm, like a Club Med vacation, I got very depressed. I was being given credit for men who had risked their lives and been wounded or died. The free drinks I was given in every bar in my neighborhood, had me leave my neighborhood to drink until closing. I did not know how to explain or did not want to explain that I was no hero. Three months after I returned I was going to a job interview when I bumped into an anti-war protest in Lower Manhattan. It was an event so I followed along, stopping for a hotdog and a bottle of coke. Two blocks later I was looking for a trashcan to dispose of the coke bottle when a NYPD officer ordered me to put down the bottle, hand on his weapon. I was not afraid of being shot but rather being charged with littering. I protested his demand. He shouted more shrilly and took a shooter's stance, gun still holstered but close to coming out. Just then this angel emerged and took the bottle from my hand and put it on the sidewalk, grabbed me by the arm and led me away. My wife of forty-seven years, a Quaker.

I think the Quaker Center was on 23rd Street but can't remember. Anyway, after talking with her I took the training and became a non-violent Marshall for the Protest movement. It suited my Roman Catholic beliefs of a pacifist Jesus. Going back, I volunteered for the draft out of a college scholarship for track and field deferment. My heart was in deep conflict about the war as a hero athlete who could move students either way on the issue yet felt I needed to make a stand one way or the other by my beliefs in a more realistic way. Could not do that hiding in college. In my gut I was anti-war: "Thou shalt not k**l." Had to volunteer for selective service and be drafted to see if I could live my beliefs. And God took me out of harm's way entirely.

Will someone just please say hello or welcome?

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 01:53:21   #
L8erToots
 
humanator wrote:
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p**********l e******n made me think abstaining might be a mistake. Let me explain.

After I came home from Viet Nam in '68, hailed a hero by family and friends that I did not deserve, having been forever safe in my job as crypto-clerk in Saigon from any harm, like a Club Med vacation, I got very depressed. I was being given credit for men who had risked their lives and been wounded or died. The free drinks I was given in every bar in my neighborhood, had me leave my neighborhood to drink until closing. I did not know how to explain or did not want to explain that I was no hero. Three months after I returned I was going to a job interview when I bumped into an anti-war protest in Lower Manhattan. It was an event so I followed along, stopping for a hotdog and a bottle of coke. Two blocks later I was looking for a trashcan to dispose of the coke bottle when a NYPD officer ordered me to put down the bottle, hand on his weapon. I was not afraid of being shot but rather being charged with littering. I protested his demand. He shouted more shrilly and took a shooter's stance, gun still holstered but close to coming out. Just then this angel emerged and took the bottle from my hand and put it on the sidewalk, grabbed me by the arm and led me away. My wife of forty-seven years, a Quaker.

I think the Quaker Center was on 23rd Street but can't remember. Anyway, after talking with her I took the training and became a non-violent Marshall for the Protest movement. It suited my Roman Catholic beliefs of a pacifist Jesus. Going back, I volunteered for the draft out of a college scholarship for track and field deferment. My heart was in deep conflict about the war as a hero athlete who could move students either way on the issue yet felt I needed to make a stand one way or the other by my beliefs in a more realistic way. Could not do that hiding in college. In my gut I was anti-war: "Thou shalt not k**l." Had to volunteer for selective service and be drafted to see if I could live my beliefs. And God took me out of harm's way entirely.

Will someone just please say hello or welcome?
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p***... (show quote)
Hello and welcome to OPP. Not a lot of night owls on this site, which might account for the lack of welcomes so far...but then again, in here, you never know.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 02:07:39   #
georgejc Loc: discovery bay, california
 
I am glad to say hello. And, I cannot fault anyone for their beliefs. Actually, the quote from Exodus used a Hebrew word which is really closer to Thou shall not murder (meaning premeditated and without cause). K*****g in defense of friend, family, self or country, is not condemned by Scripture. Nevertheless, I think of many men in the Marines who were cared for by Navy Medics, whom were often called "Doc" and honored for the risk they took, while refusing to carry a rifle for their beliefs. I could not accept their thinking, but I can certainly respect them because they went and served, and did not stay home and burn draft cards, f**gs and cause r**ts. I will also however, stand by George Orwell who said, People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
So, I say hello and welcome to OPP.
Semper Fidelis

Reply
 
 
Jan 10, 2017 02:36:19   #
grace scott
 
humanator wrote:
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p**********l e******n made me think abstaining might be a mistake. Let me explain.

After I came home from Viet Nam in '68, hailed a hero by family and friends that I did not deserve, having been forever safe in my job as crypto-clerk in Saigon from any harm, like a Club Med vacation, I got very depressed. I was being given credit for men who had risked their lives and been wounded or died. The free drinks I was given in every bar in my neighborhood, had me leave my neighborhood to drink until closing. I did not know how to explain or did not want to explain that I was no hero. Three months after I returned I was going to a job interview when I bumped into an anti-war protest in Lower Manhattan. It was an event so I followed along, stopping for a hotdog and a bottle of coke. Two blocks later I was looking for a trashcan to dispose of the coke bottle when a NYPD officer ordered me to put down the bottle, hand on his weapon. I was not afraid of being shot but rather being charged with littering. I protested his demand. He shouted more shrilly and took a shooter's stance, gun still holstered but close to coming out. Just then this angel emerged and took the bottle from my hand and put it on the sidewalk, grabbed me by the arm and led me away. My wife of forty-seven years, a Quaker.

I think the Quaker Center was on 23rd Street but can't remember. Anyway, after talking with her I took the training and became a non-violent Marshall for the Protest movement. It suited my Roman Catholic beliefs of a pacifist Jesus. Going back, I volunteered for the draft out of a college scholarship for track and field deferment. My heart was in deep conflict about the war as a hero athlete who could move students either way on the issue yet felt I needed to make a stand one way or the other by my beliefs in a more realistic way. Could not do that hiding in college. In my gut I was anti-war: "Thou shalt not k**l." Had to volunteer for selective service and be drafted to see if I could live my beliefs. And God took me out of harm's way entirely.

Will someone just please say hello or welcome?
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p***... (show quote)



Welcome. You may not have been in harms way, but you served; and this old woman is grateful for your service. A previous poster said there were not many night owls here. It can get lonesome in the wee hours.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 02:38:51   #
America Only Loc: From the right hand of God
 
humanator wrote:
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p**********l e******n made me think abstaining might be a mistake. Let me explain.

After I came home from Viet Nam in '68, hailed a hero by family and friends that I did not deserve, having been forever safe in my job as crypto-clerk in Saigon from any harm, like a Club Med vacation, I got very depressed. I was being given credit for men who had risked their lives and been wounded or died. The free drinks I was given in every bar in my neighborhood, had me leave my neighborhood to drink until closing. I did not know how to explain or did not want to explain that I was no hero. Three months after I returned I was going to a job interview when I bumped into an anti-war protest in Lower Manhattan. It was an event so I followed along, stopping for a hotdog and a bottle of coke. Two blocks later I was looking for a trashcan to dispose of the coke bottle when a NYPD officer ordered me to put down the bottle, hand on his weapon. I was not afraid of being shot but rather being charged with littering. I protested his demand. He shouted more shrilly and took a shooter's stance, gun still holstered but close to coming out. Just then this angel emerged and took the bottle from my hand and put it on the sidewalk, grabbed me by the arm and led me away. My wife of forty-seven years, a Quaker.

I think the Quaker Center was on 23rd Street but can't remember. Anyway, after talking with her I took the training and became a non-violent Marshall for the Protest movement. It suited my Roman Catholic beliefs of a pacifist Jesus. Going back, I volunteered for the draft out of a college scholarship for track and field deferment. My heart was in deep conflict about the war as a hero athlete who could move students either way on the issue yet felt I needed to make a stand one way or the other by my beliefs in a more realistic way. Could not do that hiding in college. In my gut I was anti-war: "Thou shalt not k**l." Had to volunteer for selective service and be drafted to see if I could live my beliefs. And God took me out of harm's way entirely.

Will someone just please say hello or welcome?
I am not political. Ordinarily. But this last p***... (show quote)


Hot dog and coke, not a bad choice.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 03:16:01   #
humanator
 
L8erToots wrote:
Hello and welcome to OPP. Not a lot of night owls on this site, which might account for the lack of welcomes so far...but then again, in here, you never know.


Have to say I am very happy at your welcome. Was worried I did not belong. Thank you.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 03:40:00   #
humanator
 
georgejc wrote:
I am glad to say hello. And, I cannot fault anyone for their beliefs. Actually, the quote from Exodus used a Hebrew word which is really closer to Thou shall not murder (meaning premeditated and without cause). K*****g in defense of friend, family, self or country, is not condemned by Scripture. Nevertheless, I think of many men in the Marines who were cared for by Navy Medics, whom were often called "Doc" and honored for the risk they took, while refusing to carry a rifle for their beliefs. I could not accept their thinking, but I can certainly respect them because they went and served, and did not stay home and burn draft cards, f**gs and cause r**ts. I will also however, stand by George Orwell who said, People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
So, I say hello and welcome to OPP.
Semper Fidelis
I am glad to say hello. And, I cannot fault anyone... (show quote)


I agree, to an extent. "Thou shalt not murder" the innocent. I am fairly certain that if any member of my immediate family was mortally threatened I would do everything in my power to prevent their harm. But I question myself if that means k**l the offender. And this is where I usually lose a lot of people. We all die. No one gets out of here alive. Then what is death? It as natural as Christmas shopping. Any moment, any where, any place death awaits. How do we want to live, not survive, becomes the question. Pardon me, just my opinion, but the quote by Orwell you referenced is utterly d********g to me. Blind pragmatism. Violence only begets violence. Violence always seems the proper response to injustice or wrongful deprivations of rights. It is not! Look at Gandhi and King. Non-violence is the only sane path.

Thank you. Hello. Hope my post did not anger you.

Reply
 
 
Jan 10, 2017 03:46:44   #
humanator
 
grace scott wrote:
Welcome. You may not have been in harms way, but you served; and this old woman is grateful for your service. A previous poster said there were not many night owls here. It can get lonesome in the wee hours.


So sweet, thank you. Very hard to be hailed a hero upon returning home when I was never in harm's way. I get very lonesome in the wee hours, but put myself there. Trying to get back, Grace. Did and said a lot of stupid things to push people away. Feeling it now.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 03:48:33   #
humanator
 
America Only wrote:
Hot dog and coke, not a bad choice.


Lol, no the perfect choice. Thank you for stopping by.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 03:54:18   #
sisboombaa
 
Hello and welcome. I have not had the same experiences as you but feel I know what you are going through. You are honest, strong and don't let anyone tell you different.You are just self doubting yourself. Get on with your live what ever it is and place your memory in respect to just that. You have my thanks, concern and sympathy

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 04:29:43   #
humanator
 
sisboombaa wrote:
Hello and welcome. I have not had the same experiences as you but feel I know what you are going through. You are honest, strong and don't let anyone tell you different.You are just self doubting yourself. Get on with your live what ever it is and place your memory in respect to just that. You have my thanks, concern and sympathy


I appreciate your words, and they are needed. You would think after nearly fifty years of my tour I am still a little wonky about things I am firmly in the loss column. Maybe, but your encouragement and continue to work on my issues could change things.

Reply
 
 
Jan 10, 2017 04:43:07   #
sisboombaa
 
We all self doubt at times but the bottom line is how do we feel about ourselves in general. My thought about you is you should feel proud of yourself. Good luck friend.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 06:31:11   #
slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas
 
Welcome, Humanator. I hope you enjoy your stay on OPP.

I would have grabbed a Dr. Pepper with that hot dog.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 06:34:59   #
humanator
 
sisboombaa wrote:
We all self doubt at times but the bottom line is how do we feel about ourselves in general. My thought about you is you should feel proud of yourself. Good luck friend.


Thank you so much. Should have gotten here sooner,,,by forty years. Here now and that is good.

Reply
Jan 10, 2017 06:40:31   #
humanator
 
slatten49 wrote:
Welcome, Humanator. I hope you enjoy your stay on OPP.

I would have grabbed a Dr. Pepper with that hot dog.


Not sure having a Dr. there would have changed anything, my friend. Thank you very much for your welcome. Welcome is just about everything to me.

Reply
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