"WHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE WAR DADDY"?

Those were the days my friend, let me run down the list; Civil rights riots, protests for everything and college sit ins. There were Black Panthers and weathermen SDS (Students for a democratic Society) and the Hells Angels.  We had Martin Luther King Jr., JFK, Billy Graham, Timothy O' Leary, Hugh Hefner, John, Paul, George and Ringo, topped off with a little Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi. Throw in the entertainment provided by The BEATLES, Jimi Hendricks, The Rolling Stones, Andy Williams, Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin, Bev Shea, Janis Joplin and of course the BEATLES.  T.V. had Lucy, Andy Griffith etc.

Every night the news showed pictures of soldiers fighting. We heard of POW's and hot landing zones.  They called it a Conflict,  some wanted to call it a War. Whatever it was, it was VIET NAM !   Our soldiers were armed with superior firepower. Artillery, tanks, Napalm, Fighter Jets and a bomber called "Puff the magic dragon".  The now famous Huey helicopter of the Calvary transported grunts and jarheads.  Once again the times had a cast of thousands led by JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Nixon,Throw in the entertainment of Bob Hope, Jane Fonda and the draft dodgers. Politicians were the top of the show.

The Viet Cong supposedly won using; tunnels, snipers, booby traps, bouncing Bettys, children , villagers, The Jungle, AK47s and  Chinese weapons.  The young men that were drafted experienced all of it.  Someone's son, after tossing in a grenade, went into the tunnels headfirst with a pistol. You can bet death by booby trap, made from bamboo, some with explosives, made the toughest shake a little when made to walk point.
I'm sure an enemy that remained invisible created a mindset that continued long after the "war" was over.

Kids. I spent the war at pep rallies and the High school library. Before the news came on t.v. from Viet Nam I had played a little street football.  Before going to bed I would listen to my A.M. radio playing "Stop, in the name of love."

By the time I graduated High school, the draft for soldiers was ended. The war was over. I volunteered to go into the Army four years later.

Thank you who have gone before me and since.  Thanks to those that prepared to go and those that went. Thanks to those who go and "never return."  Thanks to those that are fighting to protect our nation and the world.

The Beatles - Now And Then

"Get Off My Bus!!"

“Get Off My Bus!”

   Soon after deciding to enlist, the day had arrived. I said goodbye to family and friends.. My Dad took me to the train station where we had small talk and said so long. Later I discovered he had gone home and cried...  It was his Birthday (what was I thinking). I was glad to have made him proud, when I returned from my Basic Training. The plane ride was my first. I believe they had to pry my fingers off the arm of my seat!

   Finally after a few days we were to meet our drill instructors. “There they are!” They looked evil and full of military.

                                                         Get off my bus!!
 "You in the back, get up and have your pack in front of you. Go! Go! Get off my bus!!” Those that had been seated in the front were now outside receiving orders and doing push ups. The screaming and running around moved like controlled recklessness.     “Keep your head and eyes to the front. Choose you a brick on that wall and stare at it. Don't look anywhere else!” The guy in front of me was shaking like a leaf. We could hear those still in the bus being ordered outside and others doing more pushups. “This is the worst excuse for humans I have ever seen!”  
  There were about a hundred cool dudes being transformed into whimpering pups at an animal shelter. Some already wanting to go back home to mom's: “I told you so's.”

   Now, off the bus and seventy pushups later, we knew we should fear these men. I was afraid yet loving it and didn't want to be anywhere else. We were on our way to becoming soldiers!

  It's one thing to enlist and act and talk like a hero with mom and dad. You haven't really moved forward until you get up and “Off the bus.”

   This thing of being a follower of Christ, is more than sitting in church talking a big talk to the other pew fillers. It is you and I getting off the pew/couch/cot and going into the population or post, maybe even the next foxhole and walking the walk.

   Thousands of believers are still “on the bus," having no maturity, still unknowing what to do in spiritual combat. This world needs you to get up and get out and love the unlovable soldier next to you as well as those in the population. You decided to enlist? Now you have to get off the bus and into the purpose and plan of God!

Check out the Word:

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you."  Matt 28:19,20.