Veterans for Peace speak at Brewed Awakening

by kyle lundberg
staff writer

War is an immoral failure of foreign policy, a group of veterans told PLNU students Wednesday.
“I encourage you to question with deep sincerity what you’re being told by the government, your peers and the media about war,” Vietnam War veteran Gerald Bunch told the almost exclusively female audience at the Brewed Awakening event held in Fermanian School of Business.
Bunch, along with the other panelists, is a member of Veterans for Peace, a national organization that seeks to raise public awareness of the injustice of war and seeks peaceful alternatives.
The veterans began the evening by telling their stories. Barry Ladendorf, president of the San Diego chapter of VFP, described his desire to join the Navy, and how he ended up at a duty station treating wounded soldiers during the Vietnam War.
“The morgue was so full, you had to walk past the bodies,” he recalled. “I quickly became very much against the war.”
His eyes welled with tears, and he paused for a minute.
“I didn’t think I’d feel this tonight,” he said. “It just comes up sometimes when you don’t expect it. I thought, ‘I’m lucky to be alive, and they’re not.’ I’d never support another war.”
Bunch reflected on how the idea of war was instilled in him from a very young age.
“War was the whole focus of my playtime growing up,” he said. “It made us feel like heroes. All I ever wanted to do was be in the military.”
Although Bunch ended up as a flight combat pilot in Vietnam, he said it took a bit longer for him to see the futility of war. It wasn’t until U.S. troops invaded Iraq that he began to see the parallels with Vietnam.
“I thought, ‘This is ringing a bell,’” he said. “I realized that I’d been tricked. It was not just, and it was not right.”
Vietnam veteran John Monday joined the Army as an infantry soldier, where he recalled his commanding officer telling him that his job was to be a professional killer. He realized that that was a succinct description of his job, and he was not OK with that. He tried to get out of service as a conscientious objector, but he wasn’t allowed to leave. So he decided to go AWOL, and spent a year in the stockade as a result.
“It was not only our right, but our duty to object to an immoral war,” he said.
All of the veterans saw a reflection of the Vietnam War in the government’s decision to invade Iraq, citing statistics saying that taxpayers in California alone have paid $150 billion to support the war, while the current state budget deficit stands at around $20 billion.
“This was a war about oil,” said Monday, “not freedom or democracy. The Iraq War stirred up all those old feelings.”
The veterans also stressed that the audience ponder the way in which Christians should view war.
“When Jesus said to love your neighbor, I don’t think he meant kill them,” said Dave Barros, VFP member and former PLNU professor.
The panel ended the night by fielding questions from the audience, when they discussed how the anti-war movement has changed since Vietnam.
“It’s different now,” said Monday. “Nobody feels threatened because there’s no draft.”
Bunch said VFP is not anti-military or anti-defense.
“We’re more positive,” he said. “We’re pro-peace.”
The PLNU response to the veterans’ message of peace was mixed.
“To see them cry, that really affected me,” said freshman Rio Anderson.” It was eye opening, and I feel more thankful for our troops.”
Others said they were not as impressed.
“They had good intentions,” said freshman Alyssa Bennett, “but it’s hard for some to hear, especially those who have family or loved ones serving in the military.”
Brewed Awakening, sponsored by the PLNU Center for Justice and Reconciliation, aims to “stir the social conscience” by featuring speakers who “reflect upon the relationship between their passion for justice, their actions and their faith.” For more information about upcoming Brewed Awakening events, visit pointloma.edu/cjr.