Beech Tree News Network

I think sometimes maybe I should have entitled my column, this and that.

Bett said recently, “Men mostly start wars. I’ve never heard of women starting a war”, she said. I thought about this some. I told her, “I’m a man. I never thought about starting a war.” 

Writer, Anton Meyer, said “Rulers of countries around the world start wars. Yet, when the smoke clears it’s the common man’s guts that one left hanging on the wire.” Gross, but pretty close to true. When you get right down to it only despotic, tyrannical, oppressive, rulers start wars. They simply want what somebody else has and they spare nothing to take it: the Hitler’s; the Joe Stalin’s; the Ho Chi Minh’s. 

Politicians of one kind or another start wars, they rarely go themselves. They send the powerless, ordinary people to fight their wars… and die. We were common people. I was 10 when my older brother went to fight Hitler in World War II. Two of our neighbor’s boys also went to the war. Only one came home alive. Two of my Daddy’s cousins went to the same war. Neither came home alive… the common man’s boys. 

Some of you know Kelly Chapman. Several German pioneers worked on his home farm near Owensboro. When they were captured during the war many were sent to America to work on farms. They too were common boys. They were glad to get out of the war: “We have it so much better here than we had getting shot and killed for Hitler-we were trapped. We didn’t like Hitler either... but it was fight for him or be shot.” 

They were well-fed and housed. Kelly was a small bot then. He said the older prisoners if need be, made him mind like his daddy did. They were prisoners only in name. There were no walls to prevent escape. They didn’t want to escape-they “had it too good”, as they would say. 

Strange things happen in war. Along toward the end of the Vietnam War President Nixon stepped up the bombing campaign against North Vietnam. At the same time he sent ground troops into neighboring Cambodia, the U.S. already had a preserve in Laos, under the command of the CIA at this time. Cambodia was off limits to the U.S. troops before Nixon did this. Until then Washington wouldn’t let them go in. 

North Vietnamese could raid South Vietnam across the Cambodian border, at will then run back to sanctuary. Also the enemy brought men and materials south, untouched. Richard Nixon broke up the enemy’s play house. Lyndon Johnson was afraid to touch Cambodia. He was afraid of Russia and China. That’s why when L.B.S. was president they called it the “handcuff war”… with our troops wearing the cuffs. Whatever one may have thought of Richard Nixon, he brought North Vietnam leaders to the truce table in 1973 and ended the war in Vietnam. The all-out bombing of North Vietnam and U.S. troops invading Laos and Cambodia accomplished the war’s ending. 

Laos had seen war since 1953, between the Royal Lao Government (supported by the USA) and the Pathet Lao (Communist), until it ended in 1973.

I mentioned strange things happening in wars. There was a large plain in Laos known as the Plain of Jars- it was dotted by these extremely large jars-like containers-made of concrete. Each jar held maybe 500 gallons or more. They were thought to be either for grain storage, or for some sort of religion ritual. 

Battle had been fought there for centuries. Yet, none of the jars were damaged. The plain itself was strewn with old and rusting war equipment and materials… a regular junk yard. Among all the junk and refuse war found, a 1956 Ford station wagon, with Oklahoma license plates. So much: The Passing Parade.

Kindest regards…..