Honor
My friend Redge Hanes of Winston-Salem, who served with honor in the Army in Vietnam, wrote this about Trump and Los Angeles:
“The National Guard, called out under doubtful and possibly illegal pretenses by the man who occupies the White House, is set to ‘quell’ the protests in LA. Quell is an interesting word when those sent into the streets are issued live ammunition. Men who are afraid can easily turn from quelling to killing. Kent State might prompt a memory. A more recent memory was President Trump’s suggestion following the death of George Floyd, to ‘shoot the protestors, including potentially targeting their legs.’ This from a coward who ran from service to his country when called.
“I recall a time in 1968 while I was in combat engineering officer candidate school in Fort Belvoir. Our company was loaded onto a bus to go into Washington DC to assist in the control of the rioters following the assassination of Martin Luther King. The city was burning, mobs were massed in protest, we sat on our bus on the other side of the Key Bridge opposite Georgetown waiting to be called. One of my fellow candidates turned to me and said, ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m never going to shoot one of my fellow citizens for protesting a horrendous crime against our people.’ To my knowledge, very few on the bus disagreed.
“Should the time arrive when our fellow citizens are threatened by a man who would be king, if called [a frightening thought for one so advanced in age] I will join the fight to save this republic. This is a danger that cannot be ignored. Our very way of life is being threatened and I, for one, will do what I can to prevent it. My loss would be insignificant but the loss of our freedom would be more than significant. This may sound overly dramatic but I cannot forget that time so long ago, and what the unchecked thirst for power can produce.
“Yours in honor, 1st Lt. E C Hanes.”
Redge, who was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces, has done much for his community, state and country. He’s also an accomplished author: https://www.echanes.com/about/.
Honor
My friend Redge Hanes of Winston-Salem, who served with honor in the Army in Vietnam, wrote this about Trump and Los Angeles:
“The National Guard, called out under doubtful and possibly illegal pretenses by the man who occupies the White House, is set to ‘quell’ the protests in LA. Quell is an interesting word when those sent into the streets are issued live ammunition. Men who are afraid can easily turn from quelling to killing. Kent State might prompt a memory. A more recent memory was President Trump’s suggestion following the death of George Floyd, to ‘shoot the protestors, including potentially targeting their legs.’ This from a coward who ran from service to his country when called.
“I recall a time in 1968 while I was in combat engineering officer candidate school in Fort Belvoir. Our company was loaded onto a bus to go into Washington DC to assist in the control of the rioters following the assassination of Martin Luther King. The city was burning, mobs were massed in protest, we sat on our bus on the other side of the Key Bridge opposite Georgetown waiting to be called. One of my fellow candidates turned to me and said, ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m never going to shoot one of my fellow citizens for protesting a horrendous crime against our people.’ To my knowledge, very few on the bus disagreed.
“Should the time arrive when our fellow citizens are threatened by a man who would be king, if called [a frightening thought for one so advanced in age] I will join the fight to save this republic. This is a danger that cannot be ignored. Our very way of life is being threatened and I, for one, will do what I can to prevent it. My loss would be insignificant but the loss of our freedom would be more than significant. This may sound overly dramatic but I cannot forget that time so long ago, and what the unchecked thirst for power can produce.
“Yours in honor, 1st Lt. E C Hanes.”
Redge, who was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces, has done much for his community, state and country. He’s also an accomplished author: https://www.echanes.com/about/.