A LETTER

Paul Appell sent this letter to his favorite midwest writer, Robert Koehler and forwarded it to me.  I felt it was deeply inspiring and moving, so I'm passing it on. It uplifted my spirits and I think it will do the same for you all. Thanks Paul. See you soon. 

Robert,

As you are well aware, the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago is shaping up to be reflective of times of today.  Chicago’s mayor is being Mr. Tough guy.  As Tony Judt observed in his book “Ill Fares the Land”, being tough in the past meant being willing to undergo pain.  Judt points out that today being tough means being able to inflict pain upon others.  The Mayor has even brought in the pain ray machine for crowd control that General McCrystal refused to use in Afghanistan-the Assault Intervention Device.

One of the groups that is not intimidated by threats of pain, incarceration, and even possibly death from the snipers being brought into the city is the Veterans Peace Team, which will be having training on the 18th and 19th and will be going to the summit (as close as possible to hand over a letter to NATO) along with their fellow Veterans For Peace members on the 19th and will be supporting the Iraq and Afghanistan vets as they hand over their medals to NATO on the 20th.  Veterans Peace Team is dedicated and committed to standing up to the violence of the state.  No threat of pain or fear will deter us from standing up for truth and justice and defending the rights of others to speak out.

Many of us on the team have fought in wars.  Some members are non vets, but membership is always maintained at a minimum level of 80% veterans.  In the case of us Viet Nam vets, we put our lives on the line daily for a year or more for a lie.  We certainly are willing to do as much for truth and justice. 

Personally, I know that whatever pain may await our standing up for truth and justice, it will not be as intense as the pain I received from a mother when I told her that her only son had been killed in Viet Nam.  I still feel every blow to the chest that she gave me.  What made it so eternally painful was the fact that there was nothing that I could truthfully say that would have justified her son’s death.  When one of my men was killed in Viet Nam, there was nothing that I could write to the parents to justify his death.  I am quite confident that if I receive any blows from the security people, it will be temporary pain, not eternal. 

There are a few of us on the team that have undergone low level pain through long distance running.  Tarak Kauff is the first person to have run around the continental US, averaging about 30 miles a day.  I had my picture on the front of the Sun Times many years back because of an interview that Phil Hersh did with me when he worked for the Sun Times.  I had won a 50mile race in Aurora.  With ultras there is always a period of pain that one undergoes, especially when the body switches from burning sugar in the blood to burning fat.  When a friend and I were training for a 100 mile race on the Appalachian Trail, he had t-shirts made up that said PINE track club.  PINE was an acronym for “pain is no excuse” for dropping out of the race.  At the upcoming NATO protests, I consider that to be applicable.

I so look forward to standing up at the NATO protests.  I cannot over emphasize the importance of this to me personally.  There are two quotes that represent why this is important to me.  Sitting Bull is reported to have said, 

“Warriors are not what you think of as warriors.  The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life.  The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others.  His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity.”  

Martin Luther King responded to John Carlos, when Carlos asked King in a small Harlem hotel room during the discussions of a possible boycott of the 68 Mexico Olympics why he was going back to Memphis when it was common knowledge that he had received death threats if he came back to Memphis.  King responded, “John, I have to go back and stand for those that won’t stand for themselves, and I have to go back for those that can’t stand for themselves.”  In a much smaller way, that is what I and others on the Veterans Peace Team hope to do.  As Odetta  sang in her song “This Little Light of Mine”, we are gonna let it shine.

If you are around during the events and want to speak to any of the impressive members of the team,   the training will be held at the Center for Inner-City Studies at 700 East Oakwood Blvd.  The event to attempt to hand the letter to NATO will start at 2pm at Roosevelt Road and State Street.  On the 20th we will be in support of IVAW at the big rally and march.  My cell number is 309-335-1549.

A fan of you empathetic writing,

Paul Appell