True Service | Sojourners

True Service

In the June 2006 issue, Ched Myers wrote a warm, informative article on Tom Fox and Christian Peacemaker Teams (“The Blood of the Martyrs”). However, the last sentence of the fifth paragraph is the antithesis of Fox. Myers states, “This cloud of witnesses is the moral equivalent of those countless soldiers who have given their lives in military service.”

I’m a Vietnam infantry veteran. I woke up to my military experience in 2003. Since then I have researched war and the “reasons” for war. What I did in the military was not “service.” The military is the pawn of the mega-rich. In spite of what soldiers are told, their ultimate mission is to secure markets and resources and generate immense wealth for the few. Their main tools are death and destruction.

Service is a contribution to the welfare of others, a helpful act, a good turn. Tom Fox epitomized service to humanity. To associate his death with the military is a disservice.

Arnold Stieber
Grass Lake, Michigan

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Sojourners Magazine September/October 2006
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