"Over 70% of the population of the United States has held that the U.S. war in Vietnam was 'fundamentally wrong and immoral,' not merely a 'mistake.' Vietnam, among the poorest nations in the world, has scarcely been able to undertake the immense task of reconstruction from the wreckage of the war . . .
"The Friendship Village is a citizen's initiative begun by veterans, who have experienced first-hand the pain of war. They are being joined by people from many walks of life to make the Friendship Village a reality and a model for international cooperation. Please join us in this worthwhile project."
"As you know, I have felt for a long time that veterans had a particular credibility in working for peace. I'm glad to be part of a wonderful project like the Friendship Village, and hope that people respond to make this project happen."
"I wholeheartedly support the project and am always available to offer whatever assistance I can."
"I am pleased to tell you that I endorse your project, the Village of Friendship in Vietnam."
"Thanks for your letter and information. Congrats on a great project."
"I strongly urge you to support this worthwhile project."
Colonel James Burkholder, USA Ret.
From Officer to Peacemaker
* Deputy Comptroller of NATO headquarters, Izmir, Turkey *
* Comptroller of Headquarters Third U.S. Army *
Ft. McPherson, Georgia (Cuban Crisis)
* Comptroller of Military Assistance Command Vietnam 1965-66 *
* Deputy Chief of Finance of the Army *
* Deputy Commander of the Army Physical Disability Command *
Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, D.C.
"In 1945 I was in Hawaii, a young Infantry Major, awaiting the invasion of Japan. When the atomic bomb was dropped and the war ended I was overjoyed. Then I learned that my wife was holding our second child, a son just born, when the radio announced the obliteration of Hiroshima. She cried and exclaimed, 'My God, what kind of world have I brought my baby into?'
"The ensuing years brought on development of our Cold War mentality and an overriding national obsession to defeat Communism and all that it stood for. This became a whole way of life encompassing all of our governments actions. Our entire economy, our industries, our individual mentalities, our military forces, and yes, our very way of life fell victim to our obsession to defeat Communism. And I? As an officer of the army I participated to the utmost of my abilities through positions of greater responsibility.
"With Vietnam the focus of your efforts, I'll explain my role there. During my second tour in the Pentagon, 1957-60, I was involved in planning support for a military force still in the planning stage Gen. William Westmoreland asked me to come to MACV as Comptroller. Among my staff were a number of Vietnamese civilians and during my year with them they impressed upon me that this was our war, not theirs, and they would have solved their problems by means other than armed struggle. In retrospect, years later, I am convinced of the validity of their wisdom.
"In light of what I had observed over the years and the effect that warfare had on those who fought it or lived through it, my last assignment (Walter Reed Hospital) played a key role in shaping my conversion to peaceseeker. It was there that the individual cost of post-traumatic stress and the suffering from serious physical wounds was firmly planted in my mind.
"After eleven years of retirement in Tucson, Arizona, the rumblings of our national 'anti-communism' actions in Guatemala, El Salvaldor, and Nicaragua began to come to the forefront in the news. Indigenous Guatemalans and Salvadorans were coming across our southern border as refugees seeking asylum. Our government was resisting and deporting as many of them as possible and mounted a trial of the Sanctuary Movement, a church group giving shelter to the refugees. Lucille and I became daily court watchers and we studied the history of our foreign policy in Latin America. At this point the second element of my conversion enters, an open mind! I began to realize that many of our policies and actions belied the image we try to portray of '...one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all...'
"The short answer to your question, 'How does an officer become a peacemaker?' is, my wife, who never thought a war was fought for the benefit of the common man or woman but rather that it benefited only the political and economic whims of those heads of governments and businesses involved. It must have been that she recognized the seed of peace already within me which only needed her nurturing."
