JWs Could Never Steal This Feeling

by DakotaRed 37 Replies latest jw friends

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  DakotaRed

  I have stated in other posts that I am a Vietnam Veteran. When studying, I was told how "stupid" I was for going off to that war long ago. Even though I was often made to feel less a person because of my military service, I still was baptized and eventually, saw the light and left the borg.

  I also belong to a Yahoo Message Group comprised of fellow veterans that I served with long ago. Being "old men" now, we get together and reminiesce about old times, schedule reunions and rekindle past friendships. Recently, through the group, a woman stumbled onto it who is the daughter of one of our fallen comrades, her Dad having died when she was but 4 months old and she having never met her Dad.

  Of course, she is curious about her Dad and contacted us. I feel absolutely delighted to say that many of us remembered her Dad and have corresponded to her, without having to resort to embellishments, just how well liked and brave her Dad was. I even included a faded newspaper clipping (from Stars and Stripes) of the action that won her Dad the Silver Star, pulling a wounded pilot from a burning helicopter that had been shot down and carrying him to safety, while be chased and shot at by nearby NVA soldiers.

  It makes me feel real warm to correspond to her about her Dad and to truthfully tell her what a hero he was and how his death had saddened so many some thirty years ago, yet it was not totally in vain. She had limited knowledge about her Father but now is prouder than ever to hear so many glowing things about him and be able to pass on to her children what a true hero thier grandad really was.

  I have no doubt that if I were still a JW, I would be either discouraged from corresponding with this lady or being given "pointers" on how to properly turn the occassion into a "witness."

  Boy, I am sure glad to longer be a JW and be able to tell the truth about a true heroes exploits and bring the memory of him to a daughter who never knew her Dad.

  If God's Spirit is filling a Kingdom Hall, how is it that Satan can manuever the ones within that Kingdom Hall at the same time?
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  happy man

  Helo Dakota.
  I have bigg respekt for you expiriensis, and understand that it is a bigg sorrow to have been involvd in such things. But i can not accept that we must obey this wordley kings and go to countrys like wietnam to kill peopel who we dont now, and only beaucause someone told us. Here inn Sweden we have a lot of peopel from Vietnam, and the picture they give from this war is terribel, i think it is vey sad that this military system have so bigg power over peopel, and this nationalism is a bigg poison. Money is a bigg thing in this, power over this also, and evry bigg nation is using nationalism to motivate ther peopel to do horribel things,for me this is a very bigg issu,and the only religion who i find is saying now to this is JW, and i dont talk abauot smal gruops like menonites, worwide inn almost evry country, learnig man and women dont go aout in war kill ech other.
  I new your point and respekt them, but i think you wrong, when it come to religions.
  warm regards from sweden.
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  DakotaRed

  happy Man,

  While I respect your view of that war and acknowledge that not everyone supported it, I will also say that I believe it was a necessary fight and one that should have been handled a lot different than it was.

  It is not just about going off a killing others becuase we were told to do so. If that were the case, you might be goose-stepping and saying Sieg Heil today yourself.

  No war is pretty and no one hates them anymore than those who have to fight them, but when tyrrany and terrosim rears its ugly head, they become necessary. Much of what you hear about Vietnam simply isn't true. How many of these people in Sweden are there because they ran away due to cowardice and wanting freedoms at the cost of someone else's blood? Many of celebrity stature had extremely slanted views of it and voiced their views erroneously, most notably, Hanoi Jane (Jane Fonda).

  With the fall of the Soviet Union and people worldwide wishing to flee tyrrany and millions of South Vietnamese fleeing their own country right after the fall of Saigon in 1975, shows me that the fight, although mishandled and misled from Washington, was right. Of course, the debate on this point is endless, just as many today still believe we never should have gotten involved in WW2.

  However, you also show that my feelings towards the Organization are right in that you nor the JWs can steal the warm feelings I have for sharing stories about a fallen hero with the daughter he never knew.

  Sleep well and secure tonight, my friend, these very people that you JWs despise are standing guard over you and protecting your freedoms.

  edited to add the following links showing truth about Vietnam:

  http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.htm

  http://www.pbr-fva.org/statist.html

  If God's Spirit is filling a Kingdom Hall, how is it that Satan can manuever the ones within that Kingdom Hall at the same time?
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  Steven

  Hi Dakota & Happy,

  What a deep & difficult topic - I enjoyed reading it. I don't think that there is an easy or right answer to this issue & you are right everybody has differing & opposing views which could be discussed forever.

  Hence I just wanted to mention these few points before I go out (shopping - mundane huh!).

  1. Dakota it does seem a very good thing that you had the opportunity to let a daughter understand more about her father & I agree that the JW organisation would have restricted or prevented this - which would have been wrong & such a shame. I am glad you managed to do this.

  2. I can see each side of what you are both saying & myself am not sure what I feel on this subject - except to say that war is terrible & should be avoided IF POSSIBLE but equally sometimes people must stand up for what is right otherwise all good can be lost & worse atrocities performed. I am no expert on the history of this war but found your links to Vietnam facts interesting & useful - thanks Dakota (I will look more later).

  3. Something to ponder - Nationalism has caused many atrocities - but then so has religion...

  Steven.
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  rhett

  Hey Dakota, I got a question for you!
  I've heard that there's supposed to be a metal that all who served during the cold war are eligible to recieve. Have you heard anything about that? I remember hearing about it in the newspaper a while back but don't remember much about it. My wife's dad served in Vietnam and his dad served during and for a short while after WWII and I've told them both I would look into how one goes about getting that medal. Since I know absolutely nothing about how the military works I don't even know where to start.
  As for your actions back then, I'm proud of all the brave men and women who have done what needed to be done and thank you for all the sacrifices you've made to protect us all, even those who would say you're evil for doing what had to be done to protect them. I wanted to join the military after I left high school but since I'm diabetic I couldn't.
  Thanks man!

  Back down the bullies to the back of the bus
  Its time for them to be scared of us
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  happy man

  rhett.
  Can you tell me inn what way you where defending USa when you kill, innocent children and woman inn Wietnam.
  brainwhasing,is the answer i think the devil have done a very godd work when it comes to make peopel hate ech other ,depending from what part of the erth you came.
  Heros for mee was this who say no to this madnes, forget bibel say,dont bee like Kain who killd hes brother, love even your enemy?
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  MegaDude

  Dakota,

  Great post. My dad had the same experience, being contacted by the grown son of dead veteran who was searching for more info on his dad.
  My father fought in Viet Nam also. He flew on C-130 gunships, Spectre. He did two tours, and won a silver star and distinguished flying cross. A great guy. He put up with his JW wife and six JW-babbling children (me the oldest) and didn't leave, even when we looked down on him and showed him no respect because he was "a part of the world." Now that most of his children are out of the JWs, he is glad to have a closer relationship with us that is on an entirely different level.
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  Nathan Natas

  Hi DakotaRed,

  Thank you for your service.

  Here's something you might want to pass along to you brother-at-arms' daughter: "The daughter of a Tiger is also a Tiger."

  I'm in your age group, but having been raised a Dub, I was prepared to go to jail rather than enter the service. Fortunately for me, my Ministerial deferment was approved by my local draft board. I think that some people confuse the idiocy of McNamara with the bravery and sacrifice of our brothers. It is unfortunate that the communist propaganda is so easily accepted by so many.

  Thank you, brother.

  - Nathan Natas, UADNA
  (Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America)
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  Yadirf

  It is not just about going off a killing others becuase we were told to do so. If that were the case, you might be goose-stepping and saying Sieg Heil today yourself.

  And that's as deep as you can think too, isn't it? Just the surface, and that's it.

  Hey, Big DakotaRed, I don't accept YOUR protection. So protect yourself, if you feel you must, but leave me out of your nationalism and wars. And stop claiming that you've been my salvation from aggression or anything else, because you haven't been.

  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  happyman

  You're wasting your words on people like DakotaRed. I've witnessed his sort all my life. They stay so brainwashed, from regularly attending VFW meetings etc., that not even their own mothers could help them to understand that ALL nations are under the influence of the Devil. Some nations are just more evil than others, but each and everyone of them share the blame for all the friction and bloodshed spilled -- because they prefer MAN'S RULE over God's. DakotaRed has left the JW religion, and thereafter chosen to be a part of Christendom. Christendom is more to his liking, because she has always condoned and supported the wars between nations. JWs are the real heros because they, in spite of being very disliked for it, refuse to kill their fellow man. How many humans have YOU taken the lives of, DakotaRed? Care to answer that? You WILL answer for it, especially now, because of the fact that you STILL support man’s system after having been exposed to what the Bible has to say on the subject.

  Have I been disrespectful for the sacrifices you made during your time in the military. You might see it as such, but I don’t appreciate the remarks that you’ve made here today. I feel nothing but pity for you, as you come onto this board glorifying yourself and those of your "fallen comrades," boasting of how you and they are responsible for the very air that I and my family breath. Well, as I've already said, I DON'T accept your philosophy. You need to stop misplacing the blame. And, in what you said up above, you DID place the blame on JWs. Get a life, instead of taking one and being "proud" that you did!

  Yadirf

  Daniel 11:35 ... a KEY prophecy that must be fulfilled before the "time of the end" gets underway.
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  DakotaRed

  Thank you all for the responses. I do feel great being able to help keep a fallen brothers memory alive in his children by telling her about the Dad she never met.

  Rhett: I believe you are talking about the Cold War Certificate that was made available in 1998. Here is a link to more information on it. From what I understand, there is quite a waiting period to receive it.

  http://coldwar.army.mil/

  HappyMan: [>:(] I did not initiate this thread to debate the Vietnam War, or any other war. Your ill informed rhetoric about killing innocent women and children is pretty lame. As the saying goes, "If you didn't go, then you wouldn't know." The leftist propaganda about the US involvement in Vietnam is wearing pretty thin and all the Jane Fondas in the world cannot make their propaganda truth.

  If you insist on believing that it was the US committing all the atrocities over there, as reported by the leftist news media so often, may I invite you to research the Hue massacre of 1968 and see what a real atrocity was. It has been all but fotgotten as the leftist media and Peter Arnettes of the news only like to mention such things as My Lai.

  No one hates killing more than the military, but be glad that all throughout history, men and women have stood up to tyrannical leaders and governments and defeated them. As a dub, I know you are taught disdain for those who protect the very freedoms you preach your message of Watchtower variety hate under. Yet, they are out there everyday, ready to lay down their life so you may have that freedom.

  Please, get the facts on what was really going on and stop listening to the leftist cowards that ran away rather than go in the military and who now spew their ill informed propaganda about the military. Veterans don't expect to have praise languished on us, Happy. We don't even expect thank you's, although it is nice to hear. We do, however, abhor being demonized by the very ones we fight to protect and who don't have a clue as to what really happened.

  Sleep well tonight, Happy. Brave men and women that you despise are on the guard worldwide, ready to give their life, so that you may be free to hate them.

  If God's Spirit is filling a Kingdom Hall, how is it that Satan can manuever the ones within that Kingdom Hall at the same time?