|
|
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Now That Terror Has Struck At Your Front Door!
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Written By:
Bradley D. Chapline
Page One
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"You shouldn't have to become a victim first to start caring".
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"Terror is terror, no matter where or who it happens too".
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I'll be the first to say that the attack on the World Trade Towers in New York and the attack on the Pentagon in Washington were horrible acts. The distribution of "anthrax" in bioterror form is equally an attack designated to cripple this nation of ours and bring it's people to their knees.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
After 9-11 I got extremely tired of every time I turned on the television I was subjected to the tragedy of the cities of New York and Washington. Many of these people of these two cities in the past have shown themselves to be superior and untouchable. We now know this is not true. Tragic events concerning some peoples lives pretty much take place on a daily consistent basis. I have seen through my years that many people of New York and Washington don't really care because it has not affected them directly, until now that is.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Let's go back in history. In 1976 I was a United States Marine. Our unit boarded ship and went to the great city of New York to be part of this country's bicentennial celebration. It was a disaster. The people of New York not only demonstrated against us, they yelled obscenities and threw items at us in anger. They sent us away with empty crushing feelings inside our hearts. Most of the military personnel in attendance were either veterans of Vietnam, or had experienced duty in various hotspots in the Middle East region. To be quite frank, I have never forgiven the city of New York for treating us so badly. These actions were just as terrifying as what we had experienced overseas. Our own people spitting on us, calling us baby-killers, and kicking our pride to service and country into a gutter of scum.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Were you one of those pot smoking hippies who lived a sheltered life hiding out in our so-called educational institutions called universities? Were you one who didn't give a damn concerning the suffering that people in third world nations have paid trying to attain even the remotest form of freedom? Have you spit, yelled obscenities and treated badly your defenders of freedom for attempting to fight for the human rights of people in countries such as the former South Vietnam? Were you outraged at yourself when you discovered that your mass demonstrations against the war in Vietnam forced our government to withdraw causing the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent South Vietnamese people? Did you care? Apparently not, since the terror was not at your front door.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I was born and raised in a small suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. It was a nice middle-class neighborhood. The people of this area were not only the typical type American, they were the backbone. They believed in the American way of life. That our government was true, just and honest. Most parental aged Americans of this time were not against the war in Vietnam. In contrast to the extreme of the "hippie generation", these Americans believed that our country could do no wrong.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
As a United States Marine , I was on board a US naval ship that was located in the South China Sea. During and after "Operation Frequent Wind" (the evacuation of the US Embassy), there was a mass exodus of South Vietnamese citizens. Our ship came across a boatload of refugees. This vessel was akin to a small tugboat. The boat was overcrowded with mostly Vietnamese women and children. They were authorized by the Captain of the Ship to tie their lines to ours. The refugees requested that they be allowed to come aboard our ship. Their request was denied. The Executive Officer of our ship informed the refugees that there would be another American vessel along within four to six hours to pick them up. In that, this ship was designated as a "hospital ship" to provide them appropriate accommodations. During this time we were off-loading food and medical supplies sufficient to last the refugees 7-10 days. The refugees stated there was no way their boat would remain afloat for this period of time. The Executive Officer once again attempted to reinforce within the refugees that a hospital ship would be picking them up shortly. The refugees knew the Executive Officer was lying to them. They were right. I worked in ship's operations. There was no hospital ship. The refugees were then ordered to untie their lines from our ship. The refugees refused. They continued to plead their case to come aboard our ship. I then heard the following command come over the ship's intercom, "Prepare to get underway". With the lines from the refugee boat still tied to our ship, our vessel began to deploy. The announcement then came over the ship's intercom, "Underway". I watched in disbelief as the lines from the refugee boat were severely strained. Their boat began twisting violently when suddenly the lines ripped from their boat creating severe damage. NEXT PAGE
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| page created with Easy Designer |