In my recent LRC article about preventing a war with Iran, I mentioned that the hearts and minds of the troops must be changed. Here is an example of a true army hero that just wrote to me:

Dr. Vance,

I'll begin by thanking you for your writings, without which I would likely be serving as an officer in the U.S. Army by this point. My name is ______, and I'm a former member of the U.S. Army R.O.T.C. program at [a Christian college]. After three years of going along with the crowd, my eyes were opened.

As a little bit of background, I grew up in a Baptist-influenced household as a hardcore Republican. Looking back, I recognize that I've always had a libertarian streak, but was always willing to justify the "apparent" wanderings of the Republican party away from my ideals. This led to my service as a page in the U.S. Senate for five months in 2001 and presidency of the Young Republicans club in my high school. But a year of college began to change things.

When I entered ____ College in 2006, I was still very active in the Republican party, but after a year, the "conflict" in Iraq (I refuse to call it a war without a Congressional declaration) and the rapid deterioration of civil liberties had left me searching for something more. It began with more "independent" magazines like Newmax, which led to The New American, and eventually culminated in my daily review of LewRockwell.com. My politics were changing, and I felt my first discomfort with my participation in R.O.T.C.

Throughout my first year and a half in college, a good day for me was one in which I was in uniform all day. I was still a relentless supporter of the U.S. military and excused the many injustices I was beginning to see. Before long, I was classifying myself as (quietly) anti-war. It began with a recognition of the dangers of an interventionist foreign policy, which quickly led me to you. I began reading (and eventually studying) your articles on LRC as well as writings from the anabaptist Christian tradition. By the end of my junior year, I met with my commander and informed him that I did not feel that I could justify service in the military as a Christian with a higher calling. I backed down due to my contractual obligation to service, but one more summer of study solidified my position. An internship with the Libertarian Party of Indiana and a summer of training at Fort ____ convinced me to once again go before my commander and let him know that I would not continue to participate in military service.

I officially submitted my application for Conscientious Objector status in the fall of 2005, and a year later received word that my application had been accepted with only the small price tag of 52,000 dollars of debt as a reminder. Throughout the process, I was disappointed to see that the most hateful, disrespectful, and arrogant people I encountered were the chaplains and pro-war pastors who interviewed me. Nothing convinced me more of the danger Christians face when they begin to accept Constantinian assumptions than the conduct of these "men of God".

In short, without access to your writings on LRC, I would be in a very different place. I can only say thank you for your diligence and pray that one day I will lead young men to God's truth the way you have led me.

Peace,
______

Posted with permission of the author.