veterans

Reluctant Warrior

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I love Assisi and the Military Veterans Pilgrimage. It’s helped to make me whole. In the spring of 1972 my life was interrupted by a draft notice. I was opposed to war then and now. I think there are better solutions to conflict and quite frankly it frightened me. The thought of a bullet or … Read more

The Good Journey

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As we parted company this morning my friend John said, ‘Donald, this has been the good journey.’ Indeed it has and in the space of nine days we traveled over ten thousand miles via jet aircraft, taxi, bus and on foot. In the process we became united with a group of American veterans whose ages … Read more

Next stop Rome

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Next week I’ll be in Rome for the second time in my life. Last year I was able to attend a wonderful pilgrimage for veterans that took us to Rome and Assisi. I’d never visited either before and it was incredibly fulfilling to see Pope Francis, tour Rome, get lost in the Roman hills, see … Read more

Rolling Thunder

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We were in Washington for the weekend celebrating 30 years of marriage. Washington is a great place to visit and we were among thousands of other Americans who were in the nation’s capital for the weekend. Among those who came to Washington, DC this weekend were the members of “Rolling Thunder“, a group that makes … Read more

GI Bill

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I’m a veteran of the Vietnam era and I’m eligible for benefits from the Veterans Administration. Among my benefits was/is the G.I Bill.  Some of the college education I received was paid for with GI Bill benefits. It came in handy and helped me to readjust to civilian life following my tour of duty.  I … Read more

Non-violence or non-existence

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Today I came across a story of healing for a Vietnam war veteran who was so traumatized by that experience that he still bore the scars thirty years after the fact. I sent that story on to some friends today. I read the entire book three Christmases ago. Now, we learn that our president wants to start another war. He’s saying the that we need to bring peace through bombs and bullets. Its just pure bull.

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