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"The Most Unpopular War"

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Just yesterday I heard a very touching story told by a man who had been injured in the Vietnam War.  This story, though it would have been a touching story to most anyone, was especially touching to my own heart in that I too was in that war.  The man dealt mostly with the war itself and the horrors of it.  War.  Just three little letters and when one says them, they don't sound so bad.  Well, it is not my intention to go into detail about any of my personal experiences, only to the extent that for those who have never been in a war, to make it very clear that it is not as harmless as it sounds.  People bleed and die in wars and people have their body parts scattered all over the place.  People suffer great agony both physically and mentally.  If you have never been in a war, please be assured that it's not like anything you have ever seen on television.  You will notice that I have entitled this little article, "The Most Unpopular War".  Well, the Vietnam war was dubbed as an unpopular war.  I so agree with the man whose story I heard yesterday in saying that I have never heard of a popular war.  Anyway, the unpopular war is what people began to call the war in Vietnam.  So unpopular in fact that many won't even acknowledge it as a war, as they have started calling it the Vietnam Conflict.  As I said before, I was in that war and I have never talked to anyone very much about my personal experiences and the things I saw and heard and felt while there, but let me assure you that it indeed was a war.  Neither is it my intention to defend the Vietnam War or any war for that matter, for war is bad.  Bad is such a mild word, but even I won't compare it to hell as did the man in the story yesterday.  Indeed it was the closest thing to hell I ever want to see, but even war is not as bad as hell.  It is so much worse than bad though and I pray that I shall never have to see it again. 

Next Friday, on the 14th of June, Flag Day is observed and with that in mind, it is my duty to my country to defend the purpose for the Vietnam War.  Not to defend war, but the purpose for that particular war.  God has so richly blessed this land in which we live.  Just one of and a very important one of those blessings is the fact that within the shores of this great country, there has only been one war aside from that fought between it's own residents.  So, if you are alive and reading this little article and you have never been off to some other country, such as Vietnam, to fight in a war, you have absolutely no idea what it's like to have your every moment threatened by the terror of bomb blasts and aircraft attacks and booby traps and land mines and so much more.  There is a very important reason for that and the Vietnam War was one of those reasons.  You see, contrary to popular opinion, this country has never sat by and waited for the enemy to come over here and infiltrate our own land.  It has been said and is so true that the best defense is a good offense.  No, when this country saw communism or any other ism rising, we have always gone there to try and stop it before it had a chance to creep in on our shores.  That is until after the Vietnam War was over.  Since then however, the enemy and everybody else has been allowed to just walk right in to this country and even to purchase a piece of it. 

Why then, should I, or would I, be found defending the purpose of a war that I considered to be so horrible.  It is because of the war I found when they told me the war was over.  You see, just before our arrival back into this great country which I had so proudly defended, we were all called into a meeting to prepare us for our arrival.  Prepare us.  Why should we have to be prepared for something we had so longed for?  Why indeed?  Of all the horrible things we were allowed to be subjected to during our visit to Vietnam, we were spared the goings on back home.  In the meeting, we were informed that there would be protesters awaiting our return and we were to expect a less than warm welcome.  We were also informed that though the war was over we were still representatives of the United States of America and that we were to uphold the standards as such.  We were given orders that no matter what we experienced, unless our lives became endangered, we were absolutely not to kill any of them.  Let me say at this point that at that particular time in my life, that option would have not only been possible, but quite probable.  But I was under orders from my country that though these people might seem as much like the enemy as the ones I had just left, I was not to kill them.  I had no idea what to expect, other than a less than warm welcome.  I soon found out though that the description given was equally as mild as the name given to war.  It was definitely not "When Johnny comes marching home again, hurrah".  Upon our return, we were met by the most vicious group of countrymen and countrywomen I had ever seen.  I have no idea how many there were, but there were a lot of them and even one would have been too many.  Anyway, this was a mob, carrying signs with all kinds of profanity and hate written all over them.  As if that were not degrading enough, they would spit in our faces.  And just in case we had not fully interpreted their sentiment toward us, they were screaming things at us like, "War monger" and "Baby killer".  We made our way through the mob somehow and without anybody getting killed and made it to the taxi cabs which were waiting.  What shame and yet in the cab and on the way to the airport, throughout that long ride, there was silence.  I didn't know if the cab driver hated me or not and though deep down inside, I believe I would have really liked to have known, I really didn't want to know, because there was at last silence.  At the airport though, the silence ended as there was yet another angry mob waiting there demonstrating the same sentiment.

Before I go any further, for those who know nothing about the Vietnam War, I feel I must give some explanation to the names we were called upon our return.  For those who know me, I have mentioned many times when people would call me something other than my name, I have always said, "I've been called worse."  When people called us war mongers, I didn't even have any idea what that meant, but it sounded like it was with disapproval.  Since that time however, I have learned the meaning of that word monger.  I already knew what war was.  A monger though is someone who tries to stir up or spread something.  I did not start that war and I certainly had no desire to stir it up and rather than spreading it, it was my desire to do my part in keeping it from spreading to my own land.  That was indeed a terrible thing to call someone, but "Baby killer" cut deep and does to this day.  I hope from the very bottom of my heart that I have not ever killed some poor little innocent baby, but let me explain the origin of that name that was given me.  Throughout the Vietnam War, the television stations and news media were making a killing on keeping people informed on the score or how things were going over there.  Whether intentionally or otherwise, the news media gave out information that was either partial truth or not truth at all.  Such was the case with babies being killed over there.  There indeed was a lot of stuff that went on over there which I did not agree with, but war is like that.  Indeed, there were some babies who were killed.  More than once over there, Mothers would strap bombs to their little children and send them walking into the bunkers of American soldiers and more than once, as those children walked so innocently into those bunkers, those children would explode, killing those around them.

Had I not recognized some familiar landmarks upon my return home from Vietnam, you could not have convinced me that those who mocked me and scorned me and spit in my face were my people who I had defended in a war in which I did not start.  Indeed, Vietnam was and still is, though it's supposed to be over, an unpopular war.  But friend, there was a war fought that was far more unpopular than Vietnam and any other war that has ever been fought. 

The war I speak of was fought and won upon a cruel cross in a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull.  "And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,"  Matthew 27:33  Just like men have attempted to water down or sweeten up the Vietnam War by calling it a conflict, we tend to sing about and call the place of the war of all wars Calvary.  It is true that this was in Calvary which is just outside of Jerusalem, but it was also the place called Golgotha and that is the same thing as a place of a skull.  This war my friend was cruel and it should be seen as so.  This was a place of shame and the only thing that ever took place there was that of putting to death those guilty of crimes.  That putting to death in itself was one of shame and was the most cruel death known to man.  They wouldn't even consider lethal injection in this place as they wanted to see the guilty suffer a slow and agonizing death.  No, this death came in the form of Crucifixion.  The One Who fought and won this war was God Himself in the form of His Son Jesus Christ.  The welcome that Jesus Christ received as He defended His own was also anything other than warm.  "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."  John 1:11.  And His treatment given at the hand of those He defended was cruel as well, "What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.  Then did they spit in His face, and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, Thou Christ, Who is he that smote Thee?"  Matthew 26:66-68.  And all this was even before the war.  The war, "Then delivered he Him therefore unto them to be crucified.  And they took Jesus, and led Him away.  And He bearing His cross went forth into the place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst."  John 19:16-18.  As if this death was not cruel enough, while hanging there on that cross, they mocked Him and scoffed at Him and gave Him vinegar to drink and even after the life had gone from His body, they pierced His side and drained His body of His precious blood.  Friends, this was indeed the most cruel and unpopular war that any man has ever experienced and He did that for me.  It was my sins that He lay down His life for and it was for yours too.  The war was against death and hell and though it would seem that He lost the war, the final victory over death and hell came three days later when Jesus rose from the grave to live forever more that you and I may not have to die and spend eternity in the lake of fire, which is called hell. 

That my friend is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The word Gospel means good news.  The bad news is that I am a sinner and you are a sinner.  Neither one of us could ever be good enough to go to heaven and be in the presence of God.  Since we are sinners and we cannot be good enough to go to heaven, the only other alternative is to die and spend eternity in hell, being tormented in the lake of fire.  But, the war has already been fought and won on our behalf.  To deny this is to crucify the Lord and to spit in His face and to give Him vinegar to drink and all those other cruel things done to Him the day He hung upon that cross.  To believe it is to receive it.  If you have not received Jesus Christ as your very own personal Saviour, I urge you to do so immediately.  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Romans 10:13.  Call upon Him now and He will save you.  Reject Him and you will die in your sins and burn forever in hell.

When I came back from Vietnam, I was given orders not to kill any of those who scorned me, but as I said before, I believe it was in my heart then to do so.  When Jesus hung upon that cross for your sins and mine it was not even in His heart, for as He hung there His love was revealed, "Then said Jesus, Father forgive them; for they know not what they do.  And they parted His raiment, and cast lots."  Luke 23:34.  After Jesus had shed His precious blood and even asked God to forgive those who were so cruel, they cast lots for His clothes.  Now, casting lots is the same thing as rolling dice.  My dear friend, J. Harold Smith has a sermon entitled, "Wearing The Clothes Of Christ But Lost" which concerns the many church members who claim to be Christians, but who are not.  This is so very true and I can attest to this fact, because I was one of them.  There are also a lot of church members who are playing games at the foot of the cross just like those Roman soldiers were.  They have heard many times how that Jesus shed His precious blood for them and yet they will take their chances on slipping into heaven some other way.  They will pretend until the end that they know Jesus in a personal way as their very own personal Saviour.

Friend, that word "personal" is the key word.  The Word of God proclaims, "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."  Romans 14:11-12.  Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  The question is, bow now or bow later?  The only way a person can make it personal and confess Jesus Christ as "My Lord" is to bow now.  To bow later will be eternally too late. It is a fact beyond dispute that Jesus Christ is Lord, but is He your Lord?  Please be sure.  Be very sure.