Sailors swept sweethearts off their feet, a sister rumpled her brother's hair, a young father held a child on each hip, families huddled in hugs. It was a proud moment for the U.S. military. Not only had these 24 comported themselves professionally under threat of death and captivity, now they spoke with quiet confidence of the training that had pulled them through, their trust in one another and their trust in God. Mass. Sometimes I am not comfortable with such displays of patriotism. I have learned to distinguish between a General Synod policy to seek alternatives to war and a pastoral concern for those willing to go to war to protect our right to disagree.
Times differ, situations change.
To many, Ho Chi Min was not the threat Hitler had been. I have hiked Vietnam's trails in peaceful times and felt compassion for the GIs who sweated in those jungles three decades earlier. And I have walked respectfully among the graves in Europe. Roberto Soto, Texas. The Rev. W. Evan Golder is editor of the national edition of United Church News.