Blogger is at a rally in favor of American foreign policy, including regime change in Iraq ( Fall 2003 ).
Karen Loberg (Ventura Star) took the picture. It made the front page. He was famous for a day.
THE BLOG
of John Gelles
June 11, 2007
THE FOUR CHAPLAINS
I posted this message to Mikey Weinstein's foundation's blog. Mikey appears to be against the current war and in favor of separation of church and state. Well, one out of two ain't bad. There is probably no way to get Mikey and myself to agree on all I imply below. But if he agrees on some of it, that will be fine with me.
The Protestant, Catholic and Jewish chaplains who died when the Dorchester Army Transport was torpedoed and sank in the cold Atlantic in WW II (and these men of God willingly died that soldiers might live to fight another day) was an important event in that war— it emphasized religious tolerance and American unity in winning a war to save civilization from maniacal forces let loose by myopia and lack of military unity among the allies in the 1930's. (I served at sea in the Navy in that war.)
Americans need to recapture the spirit of unity. We are again in a war against maniacal forces— not representing nations— but potentially capable of killing large numbers of Americans in their bid to defeat our nation.
We have one president at a time. We have a constitution all the time. Let no one lose perspective, as many did before Japan and Germany went to war with America in December, 1941.
We may have political differences. We may disagree on theories of political economy. But America, under nature's God, under every person's God, and under its constitution, will protect the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity and for our allies in war— else these blessings will be lost to enemies, foreign or domestic, to whom our history and experience means nothing.
John Gelles
