The Execution of a Ten Year Old. I remember the night I was watching the evening news and the man was shot in the head in Vietnam. Yes they said parents should not let their children watch these images because they are graphic and disturbing but my mom was not even in the room. I thought the warning was for others-I certainly could watch without incident. For the first time the horror of war came home to me. To be fair the man executed was a terrorist. The man executed had murdered not only the officers in the Vietnamese army and police but targeted their families as well. He was caught red handed over a shallow grave burying the bodies that included innocent women and children as well as the officers. The man who pulled the trigger was branded a criminal but if it was part of your family, your army you were responsible for-if this had happened here in the U.S. what would your response had been? In peace we preach democracy and justice. We preach rights and fairness and trials. But then someone does something like this. As a grown man I support the shooting of this murdering bastard terrorist. I get it and would like to think I would have done the same. This was done during war-the very definition of chaos and evil. Imagine someone who murdered your men and their families including a South Vietnamese colonel directly under your command, his wife and their six children and threatened your life and families being brought to you-caught in the act-would you wait for a trial and lock him up…probably not. Definitely not! Of course as ten year old watching this on the news I had no idea. I just was horrified. I saw a human life get ended right in front of me. I was shocked, I was scared, and I was wounded. I thought of what it was like to witness death on a daily basis. I was scared for our troops. I was scared for us all. I had nightmares. This was one death of a man halfway around the world and I did not feel safe anymore. It was not until years later I did not learn the man shot was a terrorist and prior to 911 I had a sense that war would not happen here. I know now that if I had the chance to stop the 911 terrorist by walking into a room and shooting them without warning in the head I would do it. Of course in real life nothing is that concrete. That murderous group had not yet killed innocents and the law would sentence me to death for certain for such an act. Seeing that execution and 911 changed me. I know I could kill now to protect my family and my country. In fact my views on gun control have changed. I used to not want certain types of guns legal but if I am ever going to have to use one to stop a murdering terrorist bastard I would want a semi-automatic in my hands. War changes your ideals. This one little bit of film changed many minds. The anti-war people adopted it to show the barbarism of war and why we should get out. Little effort was made to explain why it happened. In 1969 we did not have the same perspective on war and the evil terrorist commit. The general who pulled the trigger was vilified but to me he did what was necessary under insane conditions. I still remember this incident like it was yesterday. I still think long and hard about it even though my bad dreams have stopped. We are all soldiers now. We are all responsible for looking out for each other and keeping our families safe. To those in uniform I salute you. To those of us not…be ever vigilante. I think hard and pray hard for you. I think hard and pray hard for us all.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 14:18:54 +0000
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