Petty Officer Robert Stethem was a 23-year-old Seabee diver. On June 14, 1985 he was a passenger on TWA flight #847 when it was hijacked. Stethem was beaten, tortured and shot at point-blank range.
Made You Look.
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Writings and musings on the eccentric beauty of sacrifice. Come journey and write with us. We are resolved to capture something positive in a troubled world and laugh when we can along the way. This, then, is dedicated in Loving Memory to LCpl. Aaron C. Austin, USMC KIA Fallujah, Iraq on April 26, 2004. Rock On...
3 comments:
God Bless him and his family.
I was talking this morning to someone about McCain vs. Clinton in 2008. As I've said a gazillion times, I admire McCain deeply. I haven't agreed with all of his political decisions in the last six years, but he's an honorable man who is passionate about our country's honor.
The part in this post about this young man being tortured made me think of what our warriors must endure for our country. I was in the Air Force during peace time, and the most I had to sacrifice was working an occasional Saturday. The worst torture I had to endure was a snoring roommate.
Sen. McCain represented his country nobly when he was a POW in Saigon, refusing to work with the enemy. No doubt, young Stethem did, too. We honor him for that.
There has been only one time when I was angry enough to kill someone. My mother had been attacked in Fort Worth, and I knew that if I could have gotten my hands on the guy, I would have wanted to kill him. And my mother and I have an impoverished relationship. That's neither here no there, but no man has the right to attack a woman.
I say that because even though I've known anger that strong, I don't understand the mind of a torturer, no matter his nationality. We go back to McCain, who cares so deeply about our national honor that he fought the White House to prevent the passing of any legislation that would allow torture. America takes the high road. We always have, and I hope we always do.
I know others don't agree with me or McCain on the torture issue, but I believe that as an honorable nation, we don't sink to those depths. I believe strongly that there are times when we must wage war, and we have God's blessings during those times. I believe this is one of those times, but I also believe we must conduct ourselves honorably.
To Petty Officer Robert Stethem, Sen. John McCain and the thousands of other warriors who suffered from torture: You have my respect and my gratitude. A lot of people can be called warriors, but Americans should always strive to be honorable ones.
Sorry, I said McCain was a prisoner in Saigon. I meant Hanoi.
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