Posted on 11/16/2017 10:39:28 AM PST by marktwain
All of us were young back then and first, you make a lot of noise, firing away at where you think the fire's coming from. Later, that changes after you gain more familiarity with the racket and confusion of a firefight and you see the first of your own dead.
You begin to see the consequences of failing and you get angry that they killed some of the same guys you had breakfast with. Then you begin to find out that you had senses you didn't know you had and you learn to accurately place where the enemy is and you aim very deliberately.
That way, more of your young friends get to go home and fewer of their young men get to kill more of us.
I just think that, given this situation where a madman is shooting innocent, unarmed parishioners and the only thing that can stop him from killing more is good sight alignment and trigger squeeze - do it and don't whine about it afterwards.
He did not kill a man(an autopsy indicated that a third shot — a self-inflicted wound to the head — likely killed Kelley) but he did saved countless lives.
God Bless this man!
I am praying for this hero right now as we speak.
God chooses and uses many people to work with and through.
None were perfect, for none can be, only Jesus Christ fulfilled that position.
One need not travel back too far into the New Testament to find leaders (some might even call them “hero’s”) God has used to accomplish His Will.
Recall the apostles Peter and Paul; Peter the profane coward, who ran away and denied Christ three times and Paul, known first as Saul, who as an esteemed member of the Sanhedrin, tracked down believers (even children) took them to be tried and convicted and stoned to death!
As Saul, participated in the stoning of Stephen (some say did more than hold their cloaks) and other martyrs, was forgiven and used by God to be the apostle to the Gentiles, throughout the then known world, facing beatings, stonings and prison, to die by the hands of Caesar in Rome.
Saul, now known as Paul, wrote the lion’s share of the New Testament, as dictated, of course, by God, Himself!
So yes, God uses many flawed men (and women) to accomplish His Will!
He also uses non-believers and pagans to carry it our (King Cyrus, in just one instance,)
Well said.
military chaplain ping:
“Wood — a retired Church of Christ minister and Air Force chaplain.” Rev Wood stopped the Southern Springs shooter.
I don’t think it is a courage thing. I think it is an empathy or detachment thing. I think complete detachment is abnormal, perhaps pathological.
An honest call for intercessory prayers, and as you say, he did the right thing.
“... I have never lost a night’s sleep over what I had to do.”
I *think* I would be the same. Never quite had to carry through, but was prepared and willing a couple of times. Actually a couple of the most calm and lucid moments of my life. But I don’t know as I didn’t execute.
S.L.A. Marshall made a career of demonstrating that very few have the ability to carry through.
May the Lord bless him, and keep him.
5.56mm
I mentioned on a previous thread that this gentleman will need counseling based on his constantly changing moods throughout the interview with Crouder. He even admitted it himself....
Mr. Willeford is indeed a hero but he will pay a mental price for it for the rest of his life. He has my prayers and my gratitude for his bravery........
I just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger now he’s dead.
You will note that the News Misleadia is careful to avoid mentioning this aspect of the shooting: That an armed private citizen stopped this mass shooter before the woundings could become killings, and he did so with an AR-15.
Oh no! Your life had just begun, and now you've gone and thrown it all away!
I have never lost a night's sleep over what I had to do.
You were not God's model when he created the rest of humanity...get over yourself.
S.L.A. Marshall was a fraud - he had zero combat time and he made up a lot of his data.
Here’s what I know: there are three kinds of folks in combat - Killers, Fillers, and Fodder.
In a good infantry outfit, about 20% are Killers. They are experienced or just talented and they are steady and they aim. They are the backbone of the fight.
Another 60% are Fillers - or as we used to call them, “noisemakers”. They put out a lot of fire and most of the rounds go in the right direction. Probably good not to have the new guys behind you though. Eventually, if they survive the first few weeks, they usually gain the skills to become Killers.
The last 20% are Fodder. No talent. They’re the ones that stand on skylines, smoke while on Listening Post, open gates, pick up stuff they’ve been told not to, daydream when on patrol. Sometimes their lack of talent gets the others killed.
Even the worst of them though, are worth more than all the rest of their fellow citizens because they’re there, risking everything they have.
Thanks for the military chaplain ping,
Not sure you have that quite right:Stephen Willeford — the Texan who confronted and shot the gunman who killed 26 people at a rural Baptist church Sunday — could use a bunch of prayers, his close friend John Wood says.
Thanks for the correction. Rev. Wood didn’t stop the shooter.
What you say is pretty much in keeping with what my dad said. He was a WWII vet, European theater. He said that new guys usually got tagged in their first 72 hours. If they made it past that, they usually made it all the way.
A correction to my earlier military chaplain ping conservatism_IS_compassion :
“Wood — a retired Church of Christ minister and Air Force chaplain.” Rev Wood stopped the Southern Springs shooter.
Not sure you have that quite right:
Stephen Willeford — the Texan who confronted and shot the gunman who killed 26 people at a rural Baptist church Sunday — could use a bunch of prayers, his close friend John Wood says.
Please raise prayers for Mr. Willeford.
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