THE CHICAGO MINISTER
Taking a short break from banging on salvaged floorboards.
(No, it's not the banging most guys want to be doing @ 9:30 pm, I'm actually pulling up old flooring.)
I don't have a link but it comes from a trusted source:
THE Chicago Minister
This CHICAGO TRIBUNE news article should be published everywhere in the USA.
LAWRENCE KORB AND IAN MOSS, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F.
Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but
what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment, left
college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines. In 1963, this
man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines,
volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical
assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)
The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and
became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned
to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a
member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for
President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery. For his service on
the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three
letters of commendation.
While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice
President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/sailor,
received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate
student and one for being a prospective father. Presidents Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American
youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both
then avoided going on active duty through family connections.
Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to
serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat
the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something
or those who merely talk about their love of the country?
After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American
finished his final year of college, entered the seminary, was ordained
as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of
America's biggest cities.
This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United
Church of Christ, who has been in the news for comments he made over the
last three decades.
Tim |
