The Return of the Catholic Defender Head of the Grave Robbers

I first went on active duty in the Army on February 7, 1985. Our military training at that time was matched against the Russian threat because the Cold War was still in effect. So all our training prepared us for when we did enter a war. The Viet Nam War is a great example. We had to know the weaponry that the Russian back armies would use.

On one occasion, we were shown a video of how the Russian Soldiers trained. This was while the “Cold War” was still in effect, at the end of the video, the Drill Sergeant invited us to ask questions from what we saw. 

The Drill Sergeant gave me permission to speak. I then stood up and said, “Drill Sergeant, we have been watching how our counterparts train. One major reason why I prefer this uniform that I’m wearing now is because it protects our right to worship God in freedom and preserves our liberty to do so. On the other hand, these Russian Soldiers do not mind taking clubs and beating old men, women, and children because they were hiding in a barn to worship God. These people have to worship God in secret”.

At that point an immediate round of applause and cheering followed my words which surprised the Drill Sergeants. They was taken off guard with what I said and the response it got. This went on for another 30-40 seconds until the one Drill Sergeant regained his composure.When he gave that look everyone went back to their sitting at attention leaving me standing their alone. The Drill Sergeant looked at me for a moment and said, “That’s all Private” and I sat back down."

I was fortunate and proud to have serve for over 26 years of active service experiencing many things.  It is fitting that my last unit I went to Iraq with, my Platoon motto was "GraveRobber".