Remember the lessons of the wife of Lot

   There is a story in the first book of the King James Bible. A book called Genesis. The part of the story that I am referring to is found in the 19^th chapter.” The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.  But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. I often think upon that whole story when I remember my friend that left me and can never return.

  The way this story really starts is on the month of November in the year of our Lord 1965.You see there was a country known as Vietnam that for many years had been known as a colony of France. In 1941 a leader arose there by the name of Ho Chi Minh. He raised up an organization known as the Viet Minh. During WWII they were friends to the Allied Forces. Once WWII ended the Viet Minh felt that Vietnam had the right to independence. This led to a conflict first known as Indochina War. But back to the US. You see the congress of the United States enacted a daft on December 1^st 1969 to send American citizens to fight in a war the was never declared a war. Outrageous, vile and contemptibly illegal. Yet it happened.

 My friends and I suddenly became aware of all the senior male student in our high school. We began to hear things like draft dodgers, moratorium, and peace rallies. Our young people were in defiance of this draft. Suddenly a young man turning 18 in the US was a challenging thing. Even frightening. Throughout the country are citizens of the age of 18, who at that time did not have the legal right to vote, were being told you are going to a country that is fighting off colonial rule and you are going to kill those people weather you want to or not.

  Now while all of this was going on I attended, with my family a Presbyterian church in a sweet little city called Rye NY. The minister at the time was married and he and his wife were both very active in the community. They also had two sons that would be affected by the draft. The church had a choir, youth fellowship and it opened its doors to visiting ministries from other churches. So needless to say, I had a rather large number of friends. Not only did I attend this church but I was a part of something that “Life” magazine called. “The groove Christians of Rye NY.” And of course, being a young female, I had a lot of crushes on a lot of older guys that were going to have to deal with the draft.

  I began hearing things like. ‘Did you get your draft letter yet/’ Hey are you going to go sign up before they draft you?’ Mother, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, and siblings were all becoming very concerned about what was going to happen to the male youths that would be 18 in 1969 through 1975. The total military causalities of the war that was never declared a war by our congress, about 58,220 souls. I, who had two brothers, was very much opposed to the draft. So, I became what was referred to as a dove. Those who approved of the war were called hawks. We doves were known to hippies and love children as well as Jesus freaks and all of us began to demonstrate and protest the governments actions. We were seeing footage of the war on the news. Napalm or liquid fire was being dropped on the Vietnam people. Families we knew were getting telegrams about the young men dying. Yellow ribbons were sprouting up everywhere to represent those missing in action.

  All of these activities and people I meet kept me very much informed and before you knew it, I was going on 16 and it was1972. My very close friend was going to be 18 in a few days and a group of us were discussing what to do if he got his draft letter. If he dodged the draft, he’s probably never see his kin again and could even get shot and killed just for doing it. If he got called up and went to NAM, he might not make it home. If he obeyed, he would be able look back if he, didn’t he would not ever be able to look back. It’s just how his people are.

   It was late one night, a few days after this debate my friends had about it all. I was walking down Stuyvesant Ave and turning down Halls Lane when I felt A wall of silence. I couldn’t hear a cricket, dog, car or anything else. I stopped walking and tried to figure out what was happening. A bat fly past chasing some bugs and in the far distance I started hearing cars. It was the weirdest experience. The next day I went to school as usual. My friend wasn’t there. After a week of him not showing up I went by the house and asked if he was okay. The younger sister had answered the door when I rang the bell. She looked both angry and sad at the dame time. “He came home from school last week and his draft letter had arrived. Mom and dad figured he must have left that night. We haven’t seen him and don’t want to see him.” I nodded my head and quickly turned and walked away. I didn’t want her to see me cry.

  All they way I kept thinking about the 4-student killed at Kent State University over protesting the war. I though about things that had happened to anti-war activists and I tried to image my friend safely across the border and free from all of the BS. I made it home, went up to my room and cried. He was gone and would never be able to come back