The sensitive subject of whether the 7th Calvary killed innocent men, women, and children at No Gun Ri arose years after the end of the Korean War. Some sources argue that the killings were unprovoked, while others claim that the Communist enemy was mixed within the refugee lines. One source claims the killings numbered over 350 innocent people and others claim it was a mere 35. Although there is a major discrepancy in the number of civilians killed, the fact that innocent men, women, and children were murdered does not disappear. Therefore, whether the casualties were 35 or 350, the United States army engaged in a massacre of innocent Korean refugees. Therefore, the killings at No Gun Ri can not be denied, whether they casualty count is high or low.
Some people can not fathom how the United States military could engage in such an action. However “Experts cite an absence of discipline and experience among the Americans, who had been badly shocked by the North Korean assault,” (Thompson, par. 7) as an explanation of why this could happen. This is not an uncommon theme when speaking of the soldier of the Korean War. Rudy Tomedi cites several examples of people who were never in the infantry being forced to become an infantryman. He uses the example of Bob Roy who states “Nine months before I’d been in the Military Police. M Company was originally an MP unit. Then one day they came around and said, ‘All right, you’re all in the infantry’” (Tomedi, 3). If this type of assignment was not uncommon during the Korean War, it is highly possible that those at No Gun Ri were just as unprepared to fight as Bob Roy was. If they were unprepared it is also quite possible that the soldiers panicked. General Ridgeway, who rose to be in command of the entire UN forces, claims that the United States’ forces were outnumbered, with low morale, and spread extremely thin. He claims “Every command post I visited game me the same sense of lost confidence and lack of spirit…It was not their doing that had brought them far understrength to this unfortunate country with major shortages in weaponry and insufficient clothing…” (Ridgeway, 87). With a military force in such bad shape the possibilities of it acting irrationally is very high.
...owards complete absence of religious persecution, it served as a positive influence to neighboring colonies, and led to inspire the founders of America when writing the constitution.
On March 16, 1968, in the Quang Ngai region of Vietnam, specifically My Lai, the United States military was involved in an appalling slaughter of approximately 500 Vietnamese civilians. There are numerous arguments as to why this incident even had the capacity to occur. Although some of the arguments seem valid, can one really make excuses for the slaughter of innocent people? The company that was responsible for the My Lai incident was the Charlie Company and throughout the company there were many different accounts of what happened that reprehensible day. Therefore there are a few contradictions about what had occurred, such as what the commanding officers exact instructions for the soldiers were. Even with these contradictions the results are obvious. The question that must be posed is whether these results make the American soldiers involved that day “guilty”. There is the fact that the environment of the Vietnam War made it very confusing to the soldiers exactly who the enemy was, as well as providing a pent up frustration due to the inability to even engage in real combat with the enemy. If this is the case though, why did some soldiers with the same frustrations refuse the orders and sit out on the action, why did some cry while firing, and why then did one man go so far as to place himself between the Vietnamese and the firing soldiers? If these men who did not see the sense in killing innocents were right with their actions, then how come the ones who did partake were all found not guilty in court? The questions can keep going back and forth on this issue, but first what happened that day must be examined.
Patrick was a Christian priest whose job it was to convert the population of Ireland to Christianity. The Druids, however, stood in his way. The Druids were very important people in Ireland at that time, and their symbol was the Snake of Wisdom. Druids could be priests of the old religion of Ireland, but there were also much more.
Because the most reliable resources of evidence on Druidism, their own written scripts, cannot be found we can only make assumptions and Julius Caesar also spoke of this when stating “the Druids think it is not right to entrust their teachings to written script, though they use the Greek alphabet in almost all other matters, including public and private accounts.” (1) The real reasons for this are also unknown, but according to Julius Caesar, two assumptions can be made, “It seems to me that this (not writing their teachings down) is for two reasons. They do not want their teachings to be available to the general public and they also do not want those who are studying to rely more on writing than on their memories.”(1) However, despite the lack of reliable information, we can assume that Druids were ancient priests, who led Celtic Britain and other European regions into nature-based rituals. Among the ancient Celts, Druids were members of the highly respected ‘professional’ class, where the spiritual life of the Druids and their society’s religious life was incorporated. Among the Druids were doctors, judges, philosophers, priests, seers and other intellectuals of their culture who possessed the knowledge, both religious and philosophical. The meaning and the origins of the word “Druid” is not clearly known. In Old Irish, ‘drui’ was the singular form of ‘Druid’, and through the scholar Rudol Turneysen, a Druid was understood as a person with great knowledge. This was because, Turneysen derived the prefix ‘dru’ and ‘vid’ from old Irish, which meant ‘through’ and ‘know’. Other early classical writers had different ideas, such as Pliny, who related to ‘drus’ from the Greek word for ‘oak’ and through the word “Druid” became to mean a ...
When interpreting history it is almost akin to separating the wheat from the chaff in farming. Close attention has to be paid to every historical detail that is given. In many cases when studying a historical description the reader can find a particular bias that the author has written with. The writings of Julius Caesar and Pliny are not exempt from being written with a bias when they describe the druids. Both authors are considered to be valid sources on historical events which make the assertions and observations that they noted more reliable than other authors. Upon a cursory observation of the text it seems that Caesar tended to find fewer faults in the druids customs compared to Pliny. This paper will argue and prove that although some of the practices of the druids were barbaric by the civilized Romans, overall they were religious and political leaders with great knowledge and a very important part of the Celtic society.
For decades, Uganda’s economy has suffered through disappointing economic policies and instabilities. These setbacks have been put forth by a chronically unreliable government, leaving it as one of the world’s poorest countries. Uganda’s weak infrastructure and corrupt government are two of the primary constraints against a continuation of economic growth. Uganda has ongoing military involvement in the War on Congo, wrongly taking money from the already deprived country and into the war. Many villages in Uganda also have to waste their precious money and time in pursuit of hiding places. They are faced with a group known as, The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). LRA is infamous for their twenty years of massacre and slaughter in Uganda, causing an estimated 1.5 million internally displayed persons. Several people are questioning why the LRA is still terrorizing the country and criticizing the government’s commitment to putting an end this horrific group. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) ...
The joining of societies turned out to be huge as to the status of the Roman Empire however rejected the removal of Christianity after a particular timeframe. Regardless of the evidence to support this assimilation of culture the sense of false acknowledgment of Christianity at last made a 'significant and enduring change to British society'’ . The destruction of Druids developed Roman attack, which constrains the effectiveness of this change. This therefore supports the traditional view as Roman colonisation changed numerous parts of Celtic traditions.
While some children and adults are able to escape the wrath of the LRA, many are hurt, persecuted and forgotten about every year, by the group’s tactics. Children are taken during raids in villages near the borders of Uganda, Sudan, Congo, and the Central African Republic. The men are usually killed and the women flee, are killed, or trafficked. These raids are usually carried out by “child soldiers much younger than their victims,” where they are forced to kill possible relatives and kidnap other children. The male children that are taken are usually forc...
Celtic Druidism. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 24 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 May 2014. .
Upon hearing the term ‘Celtic,’ the first things that come to mind are the awe of their intricately patterned jewelry, lively music, and the flowing tunics they wore. These people are also known for being fierce warriors and for their superstitious, nature-centered religion. Celtic customs are still alive and well in places like Ireland and the western reaches of Britain, but within this essay I shall explore their origins and traditions.
Heller, Francis. “The Korean War A 25-Year Perspective”. Kansas: The Regents Press of Kansas, 1977. Print
The Druids were the priests or ministers of religion among the ancient Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. They combined the functions of the priest, the magistrate, the scholar, and the physician. Druidism is a reconstruction of the beliefs and practices of the ancient Celtic priesthood-professional class. They underwent lengthy training; about twenty years. Druids led all public rituals, which were normally held within fenced groves of sacred trees. They didn't use any images to
Over the past few decades gun control has come to the fore front of debate in politics and the mass media. It's no wonder that in the wake of the recent school shootings and attacks on churches that people are beginning to fear guns. People are beginning to see guns as an object of death and destruction and not as what they are meant to be. While guns are used in war they are not intended to kill innocent people, guns are intended to be used by experienced gun handlers for protection and hunting. When used properly a gun is no more dangerous than a car or a knife, all of these can be used in crime but none of them are intended to be.
We are no stranger to gun control debate and controversy here in the U.S. We hear of gun deaths, mass and school shootings on the news on a daily basis. Is it safe to say that the U.S. needs permanent gun control laws to protect its citizens or would it be in violation the constitution? The second amendment was written by our founding fathers back in 1791 in a day where it was common for any citizen to own a weapon. Many times we tend to misinterpret our rights as well as we do with gun control laws. As George Washington once said “A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined”. Have we shown ourselves to be disciplined enough to have the right to bear arms or have we not, which would explain the massive gun control laws that have passed and been attempted to be approved here in the U.S. Gun control has become a huge controversial issue in the U.S. with the passing of many Gun control laws which lead many U.S. citizens believe to be unconstitutional.
Who were Druids? Are our perspectives on them inevitably shaped by their encounter with the Romans?