On Friday, November 11th, there will be a march and ceremony in Washington and elsewhere commemorating the military service of "atheists in foxholes"; atheists who have served in the military.
My father was one of these people. He enlisted into the army in 1946 and served during the occupation of Europe. Then he transferred to the Air Force, served through the Korean War (where he earned a Silver Star), and on for fifteen years.
He left the military with 100% disability due to injuries suffered when the airplane he was riding in crashed in Japan.
I asked him once, just a few years ago, what it was like being an "atheist in foxholes", and he sent back a letter that I posted on my web site.
That letter told of another "atheist in foxholes" -- a fighter pilot by the name of Charlie Fair. Charlie Fair died in the military.
My father died in January of this year -- his life cut short by the injuries he sustained in the military.
Actually, I'm not going to say much about the subject here on this blog entry. If any are interested, I will let my father contribute today's blog entry.
2 comments:
In the spirit of your comment here, I wrote a kindof a story called Dialogue: Conversation at the Gate to address the possibility that some Christians may be unpleasantly surprised after death, even if there is a God.
Hi Alonzo,
I have really been helped by your blog. I am in the process of deconverting from 25 yrs of being a Christian, two decades of which were spent teaching Bible classes at the high school level for the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.
The clarity and thoroughness of each post, and the amazing regularity you keep up (I've tried blogging before; I know what a commitment it takes), are truly commendable. It's helping me to find and work on eliminating many wrong beliefs and unhelpful attitudes I had picked up from the church and the Bible.
I'm reading all your posts from the earliest on forward. When I got to this one, I was disappointed that the link to your father's letter is broken. Do you have a plan to fix it?
Keep up the great work.
-Jim
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