CAPT S. M. SHELTON, USM
Commanding Officer
CDR. E. L. CRANCE, USN
Executive Officer
Published each Monday for all personnel
on Adak by Special Services. Provisions
for NavExos P-35 (Rev. July 58) complied
with. Mimeographed at MavSta Adak. Funds
furnished from non-appropriated sources
at no cost to the government. Articles
contained herein are not to be construed
as representing the official opinion of
the Commanding Officer or the Navy Dep
artment,. inasmuch as the Adak Sun is not
an official publication.
EDITOR? H. T. DAVIS, YN1 055-J or 365
WAR AND PEACH
Chaplain Francis A Fay
Cedar Rapids, Iowa; something about
the name makes it sound like the most
peaceful place in the whole world. An
author writing a short short or novel
about Cedar Rapids might be tempted to
describe its peace by using the trite
description of a quiet Sundayafternoon.
"Quiet interrupted only by a dog bark
ing in the distance, a screen door slam
ming occasionally, Fly's buzzing in the
haze of a sunny afternoon, the rustle
of. leaves the only motion visible on an
attractive residential street, etc." .
• There is nothing about the name
Adak to remind one of peace. Further
more, almost, everyone here wears a mil
itary uniform. The countryside is
spotted with remnants and vestiges of
a great war. The reason that the Is
land is inhabited at all is that it
might, in official Navy language, sup
port fighting ships.
Yet, Adak, is essentially as peace
ful as good old Cedar Rapids, Iohway.
The only warlike thing to happen here
in a long time was the recent Marine
mock assult on a fortified position.
The only warlike noise to disturbnor-*
mal sounds was the sound of a machine
gun being tested with blank rounds.
(continued next column)
It is a military base, and yet it is a
very peaceful place nestled among maj
estic peaks in the middle of a quiet
sea.
The peacefulness of Adak should not
be a disappointment to the Pentagon or
a scandal to the taxpayers or a comfort
to any potential enemy of the United
States. Peace is not in external ap
pearances or sounds, not is war the
chaos and noise of battle. The absence
of battle does not make peace. Con
flict does not make war.
A long time ago a man, whom history
was to name the Prince of Peace, spoke
the unforgettable promise, "Blessed are
the Peacemakers, for they shall be cal
led children of God". A year or so
later that man armed with knotted cords
was a warrior against the injustice of
men who were desecrating the House of
God and defrauding the people of God.
Conflict does not make war.
For almost ten years the United
States has not participated in even
one major battle. During that same
period political and military leaders
have repeatedly stated that this nation
is in a war for its survival. The
absence of battle does not make peace.
' All very confusing, but it does lead
to a conclusion. True peace is an in
ternal reality which exists within the
human being, the human soul possesses
peace when its main concern is love of
God and love of men, War is the result
of the appetites and disorder in the
soul of a man which turn him from that
love which is the purpose of his ex
istance.
A man can find peace for himself
anywhere, in Cedar Rapids or even on
Adak, if he controls the appetites and
orders of the chaos within himself.
He can bring that peace to orders ' by
the example of his love and the mess
age of his experience. When he does
that he becomes a beneficiaryof Christ’s
promise "Blessed are the Peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of
God."