Each man must, in his strength, honor his ancestors. Without them we would not be.”
–Donald L. Robertson (Logan’s Word)
“Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, ‘Life is not pleasant anymore.'”
–Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NLT)
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I don’t know when or where entertainers thought that they were so important. There has been the tendency for people in certain positions to have an arrogant attitude. It jerks my jaws to see some of them malign the country in which they were raised and given an opportunity. Sure there are things wrong, but it is still the best country on the face of the earth. When all of those folks said they would leave if Trump became President, well, I notice none of them left. Hmmmm, that sure tells you something about them.
Spitting in someone’s face–what do you think about that? Spitting at or on someone is considered one of the greatest insults, but there was a man who saved his life by spitting in the face of a doctor. Let me briefly tell you the story of that man–Roy P. Benavidez. He was severely injured when he stepped on a land mine on his first tour in Vietnam in 1965. He was told that he would never walk again. Benavidez, a man of faith, perseverance and dedication walked out of the hospital in 1966 and back to active duty.
It was in 1968, again back in Vietnam, while he was attending a prayer service that he heard the plea coming from the radio. “Get us out of here!” Benavidez jumped into a copter with a knife and medical bag. Ten feet off the ground, Benavidez leaped from the copter. He was shot in his right leg, sprang to his feet and was knocked off his feet by a hand grenade that ripped his back and neck.
Praying aloud he rose and ran under fire to the wounded 12-man squad. He found 4 dead and 8 severely wounded. He passed ammo to those able to fight and injected morphine into the wounded, calling in for air strikes and was wounded again. He dragged dead and injured men to the hovering chopper providing cover fire with a rifle he found on the ground. He took another round to the stomach and additional shrapnel fragments to his back. Coughing up blood he attempted to return to the chopper to see the pilot receive a mortal wound and the chopper crash. He then began to pull the wounded from the chopper to put them on another.
He was wounded several more times. He continued to pray and slung a wounded soldier over his shoulder. While heading for the new chopper an enemy soldier jumped up and clubbed him with the butt of his rifle. He fell to the earth and was bayoneted in both arms. He managed to grab the bayonet, pull a knife and kill the enemy soldier. Finally, he was able to assist the last remaining injured man into the chopper and was pulled in himself.
Benavidez held his intestine in his hands during the 20 minute trip back to his base. He was pronounced dead and as the doctor was attempting to zip up the body bag in which he was placed Benavidez could only do one thing–he spit in the doctor’s face. During his fight, he received thirty-seven separate wounds. He couldn’t speak as his jaw had been broken, and he was weak from loss of blood; all he could do was spit.
He was told later, after surviving that his exploit was awesome to which he replied, “No, that’s duty.” Let me recount his injuries from which he spent a year in hospitals to recover. He had seven major gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel holes and both arms had been slashed by a bayonet. He had shrapnel in his head, scalp, shoulder, buttocks, feet, and legs. His right lung was destroyed. He had injuries to his mouth and back of the head from being clubbed. One bullet went just below his heart. He was in the chopper, bathed in his own blood, holding his intestines in his hands.
Following his service he would often speak in schools. He always spoke of his faith, and said the heroes were those that never came home. He always told young people, “An education is the key to success. Bad habits and bad company will ruin you.”
Bow when the anthem is played, not me. And when a hero is in the room, as another great man, Dave Roever said, “You stand.” If you have time, no, make the time to go to youtube and listen to Roy Benavidez tell his story.