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"Candidly
Yours"
October 30, 2001
Kill Them All And Let God Sort
It Out
by Linda A. Prussen-Razzano
According to his Irish mother, John
Machado’s father died while backing down from Omaha Beach
on the way to pick up more troops after successfully completing
one or more landings. This was just short of six months
after John was born. He never knew his father and would,
during his youth, watch his mother die. After several
formative years drifting almost alone in the world, he
joined the Navy upon his graduation from high school,
serving as a Radioman aboard the USS Douglas H. Fox (DD-779).
His is not unfamiliar with loss or pain.
He looked death in the face first hand
when, in 1962, he spent 14 hours pulling dead bodies from
a monstrous train wreck outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He can still recall exactly what those hours felt like,
the visions of bleak lifelessness around him in a moment
of crisis. He can speak about it openly, candidly, without
hesitation.
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But when asked what he thought about
Ground Zero (above), this otherwise gregarious and verbally
dexterous individual fell into a thoughtful silence, his
words sparse and hesitantly spoken. As a consultant to
the insurance industry, he has made several trips to buildings
near Ground Zero, helping damaged businesses recover from
the destruction. Unlike most Americans, who see only what
the televisions and newspapers allow, he was able to examine
it with unfiltered senses in all its horror.
"The fires are still burning down there,"
he advised somberly. "It’s…really bad."
As if uncomfortable elaborating, he abruptly
changed the subject. His unwillingness to dwell over the
massacre, I realized, was an act of protectiveness. I
had witnessed the same phenomena in my own family, when
I repeatedly asked my father to describe what life was
like during his service in Korea. His effusive face would
become shuttered, hiding behind a stony resolve the stark
memories he did not want me to see. Neither of these men
was given to bragging or glad-handing; both accepted the
situation for what it was – brutal, ugly, and requiring
an equally brutal and ugly response.
What I find particularly irritating is
the wave of would-be peaceniks who, in their comfortable
ignorance, pen scathing commentary from afar in a sad
attempt to dismiss, excuse, or condone what happened on
September 11, 2001. It’s so incredibly easy to talk about
"ideals" in a world untouched by such evil. Unless they
have been to Ground Zero, have stood among the rubble
and ashes, have had their nostrils filled with the stench
of death and decay, they are no better than those who
spit upon our returning serviceman from Viet Nam. It’s
so incredibly easy to preach peace when your biggest concern
is not whether you’re going to die that night, but what’s
for dinner.
I find it particularly irritating that
Senator Biden would attempt to portray our armed services
as "bullies," when the cold truth is most of these men
and women will return from their tour of duty with the
same stony resolve and heavy heart. Perhaps folks need
to remind Senator Biden that a bully is someone who slashes
the throats of innocent stewardesses and kills travelers
who are just trying to make a living. A bully is someone
who forces their way into a cockpit and tells terrified
passengers to call their loved ones because they are going
to die. A bully is someone who injures and maims and reeks
terror for the sheer pleasure of causing others suffering.
Heroes, Senator Biden, are the ones who stop the bullies.
I find it particularly irritating that
Senator Clinton’s spinmeisters are smearing the firefighters
and police officers as honorary members of the Vast Right
Wing Conspiracy because they had the audacity to boo her
during the benefit concert last week. If it wasn’t obvious
before, it should be obvious now; these folks who are
still toiling away in a hazardous, mass graveyard were
perfect for the prerequisite patriotic photo-op, and quite
expendable when they didn’t behave like adoring servants.
Why were Senator Clinton’s folks so surprised by their
reaction? Perhaps because the top brass at the police
department issued severe warnings to the officers, up
to and including the loss of their jobs, if they spoke
to anyone or gave unapproved interviews. According to
sources, the word came down just a few days after the
attacks. Many are suffering in silence, beyond exhaustion
and mentally drained, needing some kind of relief with
none in sight. If they were allowed to speak, their sentiments
would have been known to all. One source refuses to share
what was, prior to September 11, a common ritual in their
household; he refuses to tell his wife about his day.
He, like John Machado and my father,
is trying to shield his wife from the ugly truth.
When I asked John for a comment to best
sum up his reaction to September 11, he offered two: "Kill
them all and let God sort it out," and "Praise God, and
pass the ammunition." These flippant phrases were tinged
with a clear undercurrent of resolution. In the eyes of
those who were personally touched by the horror that is
war, or the horror that is September 11, the lines of
demarcation between good and evil are readily apparent.
There is no middle ground, no compromise, no waffling.
They understand, perhaps better than most, that hesitancy
and civility lose their stronghold when one is fighting
for survival. Further, they were willing to sacrifice
the gentler part of themselves to ensure their survival;
their survival, and the survival of those they love.
We didn’t start this war; but by God,
we better have the courage and fortitude to end it. ***
© 2001 Linda Prussen-Razzano
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