Posted on 01/05/2005 2:10:43 AM PST by kattracks
What a wuss! I'm sure Canada will take him in.
Much like any respected feces salesman, it won't surprise me when Estes produces a listing of "Nominations For The Most Degenerate G.I. Of The Year Award".
So he's a moron and a coward. Very nice. I'm glad he's no longer putting any of his fellow Marines at risk.
"A soldier who re-enlisted with the Marines after becoming a Seventh-Day Adventist..." If he was in the Marine Corps, he wasn't a soldier. These limp wristed peacecreep reporters know jack squat about the military, yet they're the ones we get our information from? Thank God for the Internet, ladies and gentlemen! Without it, we'd be at the mercy of Dan Rather, Jr. here.
LOL! No "Rapture" for you! Seriously, I think the Adventists have some good ideas as far as one's lifestyle is concerned, but I question the sanity or the sincerety of anyone professing pacifism after, say, 1933. The guy knew better than to re-enlist. Probably he was trying to make a political statement or he was trying to abuse the system somehow.
Klimkewicz joined an Adventist church in Jacksonville in 2003, a year after he re-enlisted. He sought conscientious objector status, which was rejected in last March.
Sargent York was a conscientious objector as well. But he had no problems firing at targets or putting meat on the table [killing animals with guns].
He should be benchmark by which other conscientious objectors are judged.
That was the peculiarity of Alvin York -- he earned the rank of corporal with his marksmanship shooting and being able to train other recruits with shooting. But he was still strongly opposed to take a human life.
See Post #27. So did you like the little girl [June Lockhart -- who played Alvin's sister].
conscientious objector
Translation from PC speak to regular speak
coward
Answer: Put him in a medical unit. You still risk your life, but don't have to shoot anyone...
"LOL! No "Rapture" for you! Seriously, I think the Adventists have some good ideas as far as one's lifestyle is concerned,"
But you can find it in other religions.
But look at the Miller-ispired religions, The 7DA's, the 2DA's, The Branch Davidians and our favorite annoying door knocking endtimers, the JW's. You'll see a common theme, they're wrapped up in legalistic rules that in the end, make them look foolish.
This guy seems to have served with honor during his firt tour. Evidently, he served with honor for a year during his second tour.
Calling the guy a coward is a little bit rich for my blood.
It was unfortunate that his conversion came mid-tour. It sounds like he tried to make the best of it, but the military didn't have to play along and they didn't. I don't necessarily blame either party if the guy was genuinely changed by his conversion.
The military might have been better advised to place the guy in a non-combatant slot where he could have served productively. They didn't have to. They didn't. That's it.
I was raised a Seventh-Day Adventist and still believe their teachings. I do however feel that it is evil to face evil in the eye, and refuse to stop it. Therefore I do believe in the righteous role of the combatant.
The U.S. isn't trying to conquer anyone. They are simply demanding the terrorists live in peace, or face destruction. That is not evil.
Too many good Christians fail to understand this.
Taking a life should be the last resort. In this case, it is. The U.S. didn't drop into a peaceful nation and try to conquer it. They dropped into a hell-hole and began the process of stopping the slaughter.
If Christians can't sign on to that, they sure don't read the Bible I do.
An Unsung Hero
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1263075/posts
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
DOSS, DESMOND T.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 29 April-21 May 1945. Entered service at: Lynchburg, Va. Birth: Lynchburg, Va. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945. Citation: He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.
another year, another entry for Worst Article Of The Year... maybe I'll add them to my profile page under "WAOTY" (Worst Articles Of The Year)...
I wasn't aware SDA's were pacifists.
***The initial position of the SDA church was that they were "compelled to decline all participation in acts of war and bloodshed". However, they accomodated to society by creating noncombatant roles whereby they could fulfill their military duties. In the ensuing years, situations arose where this precedent could not be followed, especially with foreign governments. The church then determined that the bearing of arms should be "a matter of individual conscience," backing away from their initial official church position. They have instead encouraged obedience to civil authorities and focused on offering spiritual support to members in service. ***
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/sevn.html
He sure screwed up here tho. A BCD is not what you want on your record. Offering to do mine duty was a nice touch tho.. but if they still use bayonets at all, how can he say he doesn't want to carry a weapon? (I know they have other gadgets for mine detection these days, but nothing like the old tried and true method to detect a mine.)
This photo provided by the Adventist News Network shows U.S. Marine Cpl. Joel David Klimkewicz, right, with his wife, Tomomi of Birch Run, Mich., Dec. 14, 2004, at Camp Lejeune, N. C. Both are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Klimkewicz was court martialed for refusing to obey an order to get a weapon from an armory. He was sentenced to seven months in jail. Adventist church attorneys are seeking to get the sentence reduced. (AP Photo/Adventist News Network, Mitchell A. Tyner)
Thanks for your post.
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