MP3 Song "Band-Aid For My Heart"

Click on The Title to this Post for a Link to the MP3 Song.


I visited the 1/2 scale of the Healing Wall today 6/6/09 in Johnson City, Tn. After I looked up several names on the wall, I decided to go back to the fence which is about the width of a football field in order to capture the whole wall (which is 250' long) in a photo. While I was standing against the fence doing my thing with my camera, a lady came up to me and started making conversation. She had seen my cap. Then she presented her card to me along with a metal lapel pin. The pin is in the shape of a HEART with a BAND-AID on it. She then said that she was a member of "The Rolling Thunder" and that she is from Stapleton, NE. She then noticed my Montagnard Bracelet that I wear. She then showed me hers. I then asked her do you know the meaning of the symbols on both of our braclets. She said no, then I proceeded to explain the symbols. I told her that the groups of 3 rings around the bracelet represents the Bamboo in their lives. I told her that the Bamboo is their staple from everything to their homes to their everyday tools. Then I told her that the groups of 3 arrows symbolize their Crossbow Arrows. They take great pride in their hunting skills with their handmade crossbows. I then explained the stars symbolizing their friendship with everyone that wears their bracelets. She then looked @ her bracelet and noticed that the one of the symbols was made a little different. I told her that there were a number of different tribes in Viet Nam just like our American Indians. I went on to say that there is a Dega and a Bru tribe to name a couple. She said that a Viet Nam Veteran gave her her bracelet several years ago and told her to never remove it. After I got home, I typed in the URL that was on her card http://veteransmusicministry.com and as I was looking through her site I found the this link to a MP3 Song Titled Band-Aid For My Heart.

This photo is of 5 Viet Nam Healing Wall Name Rubbings that I did electronically. Isn't the Internet a marvelous tool for communicating. These 5 names were my closest Brothers out of the 181 total names from my until 3rd Battalion/8th Inf. KIA in the entire war.

The GHOSTLY Figures of Names on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.

You Must Double Click On This Photo To Enlarge It To Really See The Ghostly Figures Of Names On The Viet Nam Memorial (Healing Wall) in Washington, D.C.

I was just playing around with Google Earth. I decided to view the Vietnam Memorial Wall, which I have visited 2 times in the past. When I located it I zoomed in on it. As I was zooming in on it, I started seeing white specks on the black granite wall. Then it came to me, the greater than 58,000 names on the wall. The white specks appeared like ghost figures on the (healing) wall.

There are 280 names on the wall from my Battalion alone, including 61 names from my Company. Each line company had about 160 total when we were @ full strength. That's almost loosing 2 complete line companies from the 1st one killed 11/10/1966 until the last one fell on 5/23/1970.

You may ask, why do I dwell on the past. Some say it is a guilt trip. It's not for me to determine. I don't know why God picked Stanley Dix, Richard Wilkins and Cpt. Powers to die in the jungles of the Central Highlands along the Cambodian Border 9097 miles from home. Rest assured my friend, God had a purpose for calling them from this life and not me.

I don't know whether my name is listed in THE LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE in my final judgement or not. I was saved in the summer of 1961. I worship God everyday by playing the hymn "FACES", sung by "The Greater Vision" on my Cell Phone on my daily 2 mile walk through my neighborhood. Here is the lyrics to this song. I serve a most jealous God. Jealous in that he wants my undivided attention. He wants me to talk to him every day in prayer.

FACES

I DREAMED MY LIFE WAS DONE. I STOOD BEFORE GOD'S SON.
IT WAS TIME TO SEE WHAT MY REWARD WOULD BE
WITH LOVE HE REVIEWED MY LIFE TO COUNT WHAT WAS DONE FOR CHRIST.
FOR THAT IS WHAT WILL LAST ETERNALLY

SEE I'D DONE MY BEST TO SHARE THAT JESUS REALLY CARES
AND HE WOULD SAVE IF THEY JUST BELIEVE
OH, BUT SELDOM DID HARVEST COME AND SO FEW DID I SEE WON
UNTIL THE LORD SAID, "TURN AROUND AND SEE."

CHORUS:
THEN HE SHOWED ME THE FACES OF THE ONES WHO'D COME BECAUSE OF ME.
SO MANY FACES THAT MY LIFE HAD LED TO CALVARY
ALL THOSE YEARS I THOUGHT NOBODY SAW AS I LABORED IN LOWLY PLACES
THAT'S WHEN JESUS SMILED AND SHOWED ME ALL THE FACES.

HE SAID THOUGH YOU DID NOT SEE THE YIELD, YOU WERE FAITHFUL TO PLOW THE FIELD
AT OTHER TIMES YOU HELPED ME PLANT THE SEED
NO MATTER HOW SMALL THE TASK, YOU DID JUST AS I ASKED
AND THANKS TO YOU THESE SOULS HAVE BEEN SET FREE.

CHORUS:
THEN HE SHOWED ME THE FACES OF THE ONES WHO'D COME BECAUSE OF ME.
SO MANY FACES THAT MY LIFE HAD LED TO CALVARY
ALL THOSE YEARS I THOUGHT NOBODY SAW AS I LABORED IN LOWLY PLACES
THAT'S WHEN JESUS SMILED AND SHOWED ME ALL THE FACES

TAG:
AND FOR THOSE YEARS YOU THOUGHT NOBODY SAW AS YOU LABORED IN LOWLY PLACES
ONE DAY HE'LL SMILE AND SHOW YOU ALL THE FACES.

...THE FACES...YOU'LL SEE THEIR FACES.

Capt. Neville Colburn (The Pineapple..My "B" Company Commander)

This Photo was furnished by Bill Bodine

Double click on the image to increse the % size of the image

I was sad to hear about Capt. Colburn's passing on 5/17/1993. He was only 52 @ his passing. I have some wonderful memories of Capt. Colburn. I still remember him Sernading us with his Guitar and song way back in early 1966 when we were in Advanced Individual Training @ Fort Lewis, Washington. He was a really good leader and an excellent map reader. He knew how to take care of us kids. I had a lot of respect for him for that.

Lt. Charles Arthur Barrett II and Capt. Clayton Powers

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Photo courtesy of Bill Bodine. Photo is of Lt. Charles Arthur Barrett and Capt. James Conrad Powers. Both men were killed in Action. Capt. Powers was killed 5/26/1967 in Battle of Plei Doch and Lt. Barrett was killed 7/23/1967 in the Battle of Plei Ya Bo. Bill was telling me in an email that Lt. Johnson & Lt. Barrett had a Chevy Corvette and a Jaguar XKE and they brought 2 women to his barracks one weekend. I told him that I remember the incident and how I slobbered over the two cars and not the women.

Lt. Clayton Johnson

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Photo courtesy of Bill Bodine. Lt. Johnson, C/3rd/8th of the 4th Infantry Division was killed 5/26/1967 in the Battle of Plei Doch

Andrew York,,,Survived the grasp of his enemy, the NVA

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Photo Courtesy of Bill Bodine

A True Story about Andrew York C/3rd/8^th, 4^th Infantry Division---Battle of Plei Ya Bo

My Interpretation of the text accompanying this photo furnished to me by Bill Bodine

Captured U.S. Soldier Chews Ropes On His Wrists to Survive Vietnam Clash

AP Wire photo

PFC, Andrew York, 19, rests in a hospital at Tuy Hoa, South Vietnam, after being rescued.

Andrew York’s Story:

Along the Cambodian Border in South Vietnam –(AP)—

Andrew York bit desperately into the crude ropes binding his wrists, tearing at the strands with his teeth and unmindful of the blood the rough fibers drew.

Minutes earlier the 19-year-old from the 4^th Infantry Division was being carried into captivity by North Vietnamese soldiers who had overwhelmed his platoon in the rain forest along the border between Vietnam and Cambodia.

ARMS GRABBED

Both of York’s legs had been shattered by a mortar round as he was firing his machinegun at the dozen brown clad Vietnamese rushing at him through elephant grass. He fainted. When he came to, the roar of battle was stilled, his wrists were tied to his belt, and his Communist captors stood around him.

Two of them grabbed his arms, two others his feet, and York—from the little town of Chelsea, Maine, married on May 5 to his childhood sweetheart and sent to Vietnam a week later—was on his way to captivity.

But the battle last Sunday was by no means over.

Circling overhead in a helicopter was the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Thomas P. Lynch of Spokane, Wash., who called for silence on the radio net so he could hear the last man on the platoon’s radio set.

Artillery Hits Jungle

“Charger (the battalion commander’s code name), everyone else is dead,” the voice said. There were some mumbled words about home and mother. Then “Charger, I’m dying.” The set went silent.

Lynch assumed that everyone in the platoon was killed. Numerous North Vietnamese could be seen below. He ordered artillery barrages on top of them.

York, numb with pain, was being carried into the Jungle as the first rounds came in. The two North Vietnamese carrying his legs were killed in the first blast. The men at his shoulders dropped him to the ground.

“I realized they were our shells,” York said later at a hospital. “I was sure the Communist would kill me then, what had they to lose? And if they didn’t, then our Artillery would get me. I thought I was dead for sure. All that I could do was pray, and you better believe I was praying.”

Freed His Wrists

The Barrage ended quickly. York was alone beside the two dead men who had been carrying his legs. He tugged painfully at his belt and pulled his wrists free so he could get his teeth to the ropes. Then he started chewing feverishly.

The North Vietnamese battalion that had overwhelmed the 30-man platoon, killing 18 of the Americans, had reached the company perimeter where another 30 Americans were lying in foxholes.

Commanded by Capt. William C. Pratt of Edimburg, Tex., they were soon under rocket and machine attack from the shadowy figures at the edge of the clearing.

In a forward foxhole Sp, 4 Robert Rohan, from Omro, Wis., fired a claymore mine, shattering a patch of jungle with lethal pellets. Later, 11 dead Communists soldiers were found there with three rocket launchers and two machineguns beside them.

The big American guns to the rear slammed 6.682 shells at the enemy in 3 hours. U.S. Air Force bombers roared in, searing the jungle and grassy clearings with Napalm and bombs. Armed helicopters slashed at trails with machine guns.

Neutralized by Fire

One of Capt. Pratt’s platoons fought its way back to the Company perimeter. Then Capt. Neil D. Buie, came bursting across the clearing with his 120 men of “B” company/3^rd/8^th.

From then on, it became a “mechanical process..” Lynch said, á complete destruction and neutralization of the enemy with heavy gunfire.

North Vietnamese came running from the jungle to surrender, their hands clasped in front of them.

In all, 170 Communist were killed, 19 Americans were dead.

Alive amid the destruction were Pfc. York and ten others in his platoon, all wounded. York had managed to chew through his ropes, had dragged his mangled legs through the jungle to join up with some of his buddies, and gave a very painful cheer as he rejoined his troops.

Good Night Saigon....By Billy Joel

Click on the title to this blog entry to hear "Goodnight Saigon"

Comments About This Song:

This song came out right at the time when the tide turned in the U.S., and all those idiots who spat on the returning Vietnam vets became pariahs, and the vets were finally given a very belated apology for the indignity handed out to them upon their return. The first time I heard this song, I got the lump in the throat. You may think I am making it up, but I remember at the age of four being very angry when I saw footage of the returning veterans being insulted in airports. Good for Billy for making such a touching tribute, and all you douche bags throwing out gratuitous insults at him need to go to the nearest five-and-dime and purchase a life.

Listen folks, this song is sacred to those who fought in Vietnam. Why don't you just leave it alone and let the Vets have it? After a war like that and the disrespect the vets endured when they came back home, it was great that someone in the early 80's was finally brave enough to pay them tribute. You sit there and complain about gunfire, stupid lyrics.... LEAVE IT ALONE. Just respect the men who understand it.

Joel recently said that in the early 1980's a group of Veitnam vets came to him an urged him to write a song about their experiences there. He said he couldn't do it since he never served. They told him that it made him the perfect choice to write it - that real Vietnam vets couldn't get over the emotions involved to write a song about it. So Joel spent several days listening to their stories and then got their approval before recording the song.

What does the Bible say about war?

Question: "What does the Bible say about war?"

Answer: Many people make the mistake of believing the Bible says, “You shall not kill,” and seek to apply this command to war. However, the Bible actually says, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). The Hebrew word literally means “the intentional, premeditated killing of another person with malice.” God often ordered the Israelites to go to war with other nations (1 Samuel 15:3; Joshua 4:13). God ordered the death penalty for numerous crimes (Exodus 21:12; 21:15; 22:19; Leviticus 20:11). So, God is not against killing in all circumstances, but rather only murder. War is never a good thing, but sometimes it is a necessary thing. In a world filled with sinful people (Romans 3:10-18), war is inevitable. Sometimes the only way to keep sinful people from doing great harm is by going to war with them.War is a terrible thing! War is always the result of sin (Romans 3:10-18). In the Old Testament, God ordered the Israelites to: “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites” (Numbers 31:2). See also Deuteronomy 20:16-17, “However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them--the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites--as the LORD your God has commanded you.” Exodus 17:16 proclaims, “He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation." Also, 1 Samuel 15:18, “Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.” So, obviously God is not against all war. Jesus is always in perfect agreement with the Father (John 10:30), so we cannot argue that war was only God’s will in the Old Testament. God does not change (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17).Jesus’ Second Coming also is exceedingly violent. Revelation 19:11-21 proclaims, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great." Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”It is an error to say that God never supports a war. Jesus is not a pacifist. In a world filled with evil people, sometimes a war is necessary to prevent even greater evil. If Hitler had not been defeated by World War II, how many more millions of Jews would have been killed? If the Civil War had not been fought, how much longer would African Americans have had to suffer as slaves? We must all remember to base our beliefs of the Bible, not on our emotions (2 Timothy 3:16-17).Ecclesiastes 3:8 declares, “there is…a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. In a world filled with sin, hatred, and evil (Romans 3:10-18), war is inevitable. Some wars are more “just” than others, but all wars are ultimately the result of sin. Christians should not desire war, but neither are Christians to oppose the government God has placed in authority over them (Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:17). The most important thing we can be doing in a time of war is to be praying for godly wisdom for our leaders, praying for the safety of our military, praying for quick resolution to the conflict, and praying for minimum casualties – on both sides of the conflict (Philippians 4:6-7).

What does the Bible say about a Christian serving in the military?

Question: "What does the Bible say about a Christian serving in the military?"

Answer: The Bible contains a large quantity of information about serving in the military. While large portions of the military information contained in the Bible are only analogies, several verses directly relate to this question. No, the Bible does not come out and specifically state “Thou shalt serve in the military;” and in contrast it also does not state “Thou shalt not serve in the military.” At the same time, Christians can rest assured that being a soldier is highly respected throughout the Bible, and know that such service is consistent with a Biblical worldview.The first example of military service is found in the Old Testament (Genesis 14), when Abraham's nephew Lot was kidnapped by Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and his allies. Abraham rallied to Lot's aid by gathering 318 trained men of his household and defeating the foreign forces.Late in its history, the nation of Israel developed a standing army. The sense that God was the Divine Warrior and would protect His people regardless of their military strength may have been a reason why Israel was slow to develop an army. The development of a regular standing army in Israel came only after a strong, centralized political system had been developed by Saul, David, and Solomon. Saul was the first to form a permanent army (1 Samuel 13:2; 24:2; 26:2). Nevertheless, the army had to be supported by food and other supplies from the homes of individual soldiers (1 Samuel 17:17-19).What Saul began, David continued. He increased the army, brought in hired troops from other regions who were loyal to him alone (2 Samuel 15:19-22), and turned over the direct leadership of his armies to a commander in chief (Joab). Under David, Israel also became more aggressive in its offensive military policies, absorbing neighboring states like Ammon (2 Samuel 11:1; 1 Chronicles 20:1-3). David established a system of rotating troops with 12 groups of 24,000 men serving one month of the year (1 Chronicles 27). Although Solomon's reign was peaceful, he further expanded the army, adding chariots and horsemen (1 Kings 10:26). The standing army continued (though divided along with the kingdom after the death of Solomon) until 586 B.C., when Israel ceased to exist as a political entity.Jesus marveled when a Roman Centurion (officer in charge of one hundred soldiers) approached Him. The Centurion’s response to Jesus indicated his clear understanding of authority, as well as his faith in Jesus (Matthew 8:5-13). Jesus did not denounce his career. Many Centurions mentioned in the New Testament are praised as Christians, God-fearers, and men of good character (Matthew 8:5,8,13; 27:54; Mark 15:39,44-45; Luke 7:2,6; 23:47; Acts 10:1,22; 21:32; 22:25-26; 23:17,23; 24:23; 27:1,6,11,31,43; 28:16).Historically the places and the titles may have changed, but our armed forces should be just as favorably valued as the Centurions of the Bible. Being a soldier was highly revered. For example, Paul describes Epaphroditus, a fellow Christian as a “fellow soldier” (Philippians 2:25). The Bible also uses military terms to describe being strong in the Lord by putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20).Yes, the Bible does address serving in the military, directly and implicitly. The Christian men and women who serve their country with character, dignity, and honor, can rest assured that the civic duty they perform is condoned and respected by our Sovereign God. Those who serve in the military deserve our respect and our thanks.