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Professional
success is a worthy goal, but only when integrity and a longing to
honor God is a higher one.
-
Foreword
We were on a
combat mission outside of Saigon in an area called "The Iron
Triangle". It had been one of the most tempestuous areas in
Viet Nam at that time. We were given the mission to take our
armored vehicles through the area and really make a sweep,
figuring that we could really clean things out. Early one
evening, Larry Dawson, whom I knew, stopped me as I was walking
around talking to soldiers. He said, 'I need to talk with
you.' It started to get a little bit dusk and he said, 'I'm
not right with God.' We talked for awhile and I asked him if
he wanted to make a recommitment of his life to the Lord. He
said, 'Yes'. He really did. Standing out in the middle
of nowhere, in enemy territory, in the war zone, Larry made a
recommitment of his life to the Lord.
Larry's name is on the Viet Nam monument. Within thirty
days of coming home, he was caught in an ambush. The only
reason I was not caught in the same ambush is that I had been
reassigned, but almost always, I went with the guys Larry was
with. That was for me a very emotional moment, when I went
to the Viet Nam Memorial and looked up his name. Very
emotional.
- Chapter 9, Dawson
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That day, seventeen
men slipped into eternity. I knew none of them well enough
to have any certainty about their eternal destiny. I had
recognized several of the bodies and realized that these were men
who would give me reason to be very uncertain. Their
destinies are in God's hands, I know that. I had to leave it
there and pray again that these deaths were not in vain.
There was one man that day who knew he no longer would be plagued
by any doubt about meeting his God....especially if he did so
quickly and violently here in Viet Nam.
There is no way you can prepare yourself for an even
such as the one I lived through on Mothers Day 1967. Yet, my
heavy, broken hear was lifted by the encounter with Jim Schaefer
in the chapel as the day drew to a close. I had pointed him
toward the path of eternal life. He had, in turn, given me
the gift of renewed hope. That was a gift straight from the
heart of God to me. I had never before felt the need of some
special touch from the Lord more than I did that evening.
And....I had never been more grateful for this wonderful
opportunity to help a soldier experience joy in the midst of so
much grief.
-
Foreword
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"Dear Mrs. Elliott,
it grieves me to have to write this letter to you. You have
by now been notified through official channels that your husband,
Major Arthur Elliot, has been listed as missing in action...."
Thus I began one of the most difficult letters I have ever had to
write.
I was sitting at my desk in my small office on a MACV
compound on the edge of the Central Highlands city of Kontum in
what was then the Republic of Viet Nam.
"It was April 1970 and a battle was raging about 35
miles north of us that we were calling "The Siege of Dak Seang."
The North Vietnamese had thrown two regiments against
this tiny Special Forces camp located near the Dak Bla River, just
inside the Laotian border. They were determined, for
propaganda reasons, to overrun that small team of brave soldiers
and their Montagnard counterparts. They never succeeded but
lost the equivalent of an entire regiment in the process.
Early in "The Siege of Dak Seang" it was decided to
commit Vietnamese regular forces against the enemy. These
units had American advisors. These advisors were my soldiers
for ministry.
Art Elliott was one of those advisors. He was also my friend.
We had shared much during our 8 months together in that tense and
frightening, yet exotically beautiful part of Viet Nam. The
seesaw battle for Dak Seang Special Forces Camp was fierce and
Art's battalion was eventually overrun. The account of those
few American soldiers who did survive the battle was that Art had
chosen another route to "escape and evade" back to the camp.
They could only assume that he had been either killed or captured.
No body was ever found.
I tried to extend to Mrs. Elliott that frail thread of
hope that we were all trying to cling to.
I left Viet Nam. Months turned into years, but I
never forgot Art. In the Spring of 1973, after arduous
negotiations between Henry Kissinger and his Vietnamese
counterpart, it was agreed that our POWs would be returned.
I shall never forget grabbing the newspaper the day the
list of names of returning POWs was published. I had never
let go of that "thread of hope." I ran my finger down to the
"E's" and there it was -- "Major Arthur Elliott" was returning to
the United States as a POW after three years of being listed as an
"MIA." Almost beyond control of my emotions, I cried out,
"He's alive!"
In some small measure, I think this mirrors a similar
emotion that must have riveted Mary and Martha as they stared in
disbelief at the gaping, empty hole that had been the tomb of
their dearly beloved friend, Jesus, who had been executed just
three days before. Running back to report to their bereaved
and bewildered friends what they had just witnessed, they cried
out, "He is alive!"
May those emotions grip each of us as we once again
celebrate another glorious Easter eve. "He is alive!"
"Hallelujah!"
And because He is alive, our hope is renewed and life
is without limits!
- Chapter 16, Major Elliott
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I well recall an
event when a group of Eastern Bloc officers visited Fort Lewis.
The Russian General was also a large man. Colonel
Schwarzkopf was his escort. As they walked side by side, I
overhead a young soldier exclaim, with excitement and pride, "Hey,
the Bear is bigger than the Russian!" The solders loved him
and morale was always high while he was in command
- Chapter 20, The Bear
Walking down the
hall outside of the School auditorium one morning, a fellow
faculty member walked up very close to me and whispered, "You made
it. You are on the '06' [colonel] promotion list. You
can't say a word or I am in trouble."
- Chapter 27, "You Made It!"
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The Deputy invited
us to get into his vehicle to go to lunch. He started the
engine, paused, caught my eye in the rear view mirror and said,
"John, I have some news for you." My throat became tight.
I was feeling very tense. "You are going to the Army War
College. The list was just released this morning and the
FORSCOM Chaplain told me to give you the news."
- Chapter 27, "You Made It!"
"I am not prepared
to discuss with you whether or not the United States should have
been involved in Viet Nam. I can tell you that, like each of
you, I was prepared to obey the orders of my military leaders.
I can also tell you that it was the right and appropriate thing
for me to be there. Soldiers were dying and other soldiers
were being badly wounded. Many were frightened just as you
would be in a combat experience. I ministered to these
soldiers. I talked with them. I tried to comfort them
and I prayed with them. Yes, it is right for a clergyman to
be with soldiers in time of war."
- Epilogue
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