Peace Symbol Offends

Peace Symbol Offends

(Also known as the “Nero Cross” and the “Sign of the Broken Christian”)

History of the Peace Symbol

The history of the Peace Symbol begins with the Nero Cross.  Nero persecuted Christians.  He designed an upside down cross in the form of a “V” and crucified Peter on it, head-down.  This is according to Nestorius the Syrian, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428-431 AD.  Since that time the Nero Cross received the name “Sign of the Broken Christian, or “of the Broken Jew,” with reference to Peter.

Three years after Peter’s death the Roman Legions marched into Jerusalem.  They had on their banners the Nero Cross (peace symbol) as their insignia.  This is the symbol of hatred against the Bible and Christianity through the ages.  In 1099 the Muslims fought under this symbol against the Crusaders.  In 1917 the Bolsheviks painted the Nero Cross (peace symbol) on the doors of the churches they had closed.

The next use of the peace symbol began in 1958 when Neo Nazis in Germany displayed the symbol on their banners while protesting against America.  In the 1960s and 1970s the symbol was adopted by the Communist led anti war movement in the United States.  Now the symbol adorns the clothing of young Americans who have no idea that this is first and foremost an anti Christian symbol.  I am amazed to see young Christian people in my community wearing this symbol.  The term “useful idiot”* keeps coming to mind.

 

*Useful Idiot.  A term used by the Communists to describe Americans who through ignorance allow themselves to be used to further the goals of the Communist Movement.

The Vietnam War and the Anti War Movement   

As you may know I spent a year in Vietnam involved in frequent combat.  The names of many of my friends are inscribed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in DC.   During my tour of duty 30 out of 120 men in my Company were killed in action.  More than 58,000 mostly young American boys gave their lives in that conflict.  I witnessed the death of many fine young men.   I saw my closest friend, blown into small pieces.  To say that I have strong feelings about the conflict and the way our country treated the warriors who fought and died there would be a gross understatement.

You are probably unaware of the fact that the Communist North Vietnamese never won a single battle in that war and on three occasions they were about to give up and quit.   There was just one thing that inspired them to fight on.  After the war they admitted that the only reason they did not capitulate and decided to continue the conflict was the so called “Peace movement,” (also called the “anti war movement.”)  

After the war, the Communist Generals said that when they saw the “Peace Marches” on television they knew that they did not need to defeat the American Army.  General Giap, the commander of the North Vietnamese Army admitted that he had never defeated our Army in battle.  He also said, “The fact that we could not defeat the American Army was irrelevant.  When I saw the marches on Washington I knew that the American people (peace movement) would win the war for me.”

Today, most Americans do not know that Nixon had the U.S. Air Force B52’s bomb North Vietnam until they returned to the peace table and in August of 1973 a peace agreement was signed by all parties.  The Communists promised not to invade South Vietnam and the American Army went home after defeating the Communists in every single battle of the war.

Twenty months later, in April 1975, with no American Army to stop them the North Vietnamese Army invaded South Vietnam in direct violation of the peace agreement they had signed and took complete control of the country.  Our only military presence at the time of the invasion was a hand full of American advisors and U.S. Embassy Guards who were flown off the roof of the Embassy to American ships in the South China Sea.  

Our Army which had never lost a single battle in Vietnam had returned home to the US nearly two years before the invasion of South Vietnam occurred.  The press and our children’s history books still refer to the Vietnam War as having been a defeat for the U.S. military.  General Giap admitted after the war that our Army had killed well over one million of his troops.  This equates to a ratio of nearly 18 to one.  Rarely in history has one Army, the American Army, defeated another Army so decisively.  

With no American Army present to defend it, South Vietnam fell to the Communists and the “Peace protestors” said not a single word about the murder and imprisonment of tens of thousands of South Vietnamese at the hands of the Communists.  

Two leaders of the “Peace movement” who are well known celebrities in America today are honored heroes to the Communist Vietnamese and visitors have reported seeing their pictures hanging in a war museum in Hanoi.  The caption is said to state that North Vietnam Communists could not have defeated the South Vietnamese and taken control of the entire country without the help of these two “Peace Activists.”  When the Communists did take over South Vietnam it was a blood bath as had been predicted.  (Jane Fonda and John Kerry).

The “Peace movement” is now known to have been financed, led, directed and inspired by the American Communist Party, the Revolutionary Communist Party and other subversive groups.  Many well meaning Americans were duped into helping the “Peace movement” by demonstrating, staging “sit ins,” marching on the Capital and opposing the war in every way they could.  The Communists who organized these activities referred to these Americans as “useful idiots.”

The support which the “Peace demonstrators” provided for the Communist Vietnamese inspired our enemy to continue the war and the conflict was extended for several years.  Extending the war resulted in the death of at least 10,000 American soldiers and another 50,000 wounded.  The peace demonstrators kept the war going by providing aid and comfort to the enemy and thousands of young American boys paid for this with their lives.  This is not a theory, this is a fact cited by the North Vietnamese Generals and some reformed leaders of the peace movement.   

A well know lecturer and news commentator, David Horwitz was a devout American Communist and a leader in the peace/anti war movement.   Several years after the war, Horwitz confirmed the Communist leadership role in the peace movement.  He later denounced Communism and the peace movement and admitted that their activities prolonged the war resulting in the death of thousands of Americans.  

Subversives and a few naive followers have recently tried to rekindle the peace/anti war movement led by Sheehan, Fonda, and others.  The movement remains small and ineffective today because many Americans know the truth about how harmful this movement was to our country and our military during the conflict in Vietnam.   

There were certain symbols that the peace movement used to rally their naive followers.  The chant “Ho Ho Ho Chi Min” was heard all across this country.  This was a rallying cry referring to the Communist leader of North Viet Nam. This would be akin to hearing Americans chanting the name of the Emperor of Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Such activity during WWII would have likely caused people to be arrested for treason or run out of town on a rail.  

During the war in Vietnam, such activities provided aid and comfort to the enemy.  Ho Ho Ho Chi Min was one of the rallying cries of those who actually helped to extend the war and eventually allowed the Communists to invade South Vietnam.                                                   4

The “peace movement,” which supported our Communist enemy for so many years had one universal symbol.  This symbol identified people as members of the movement.  A symbol which reminds every one of the hundreds of thousands of American veterans who fought that war how their own countrymen betrayed them.  I am referring of course to the so called “peace symbol or peace sign.”   This symbol was worn by Communists, subversives, cowardly draft dodgers who fled to Canada and thousands of well meaning Americans as they went about the business of prolonging the war with their demonstrations.  The peace symbol was worn by those who threw bags of urine and excrement and spat upon our soldiers as they returned home from the war.

Symbols Have Meaning

I must admit that I am personally sickened by the sight of anyone wearing the so called peace symbol.  This symbol is as offensive to me and many other Vietnam combat veterans who witnessed the death of their fellow soldiers as the Swastika is to a Jewish person.  When I see someone wearing a “peace symbol” it is all I can do to restrain myself.  I am always tempted to yell at the people wearing them, “Why are you wearing an anti Christian symbol which enrages and insults many of our nation’s combat veterans.  It makes no sense.  Are you just stupid or what?”

What if you saw a man wearing a Klan costume and when you confronted him he said, “Do not worry, to me this stands for peace.”  Would that be acceptable?  The fact that he may be too stupid to understand the symbolic meaning of this offensive outfit does not change the fact that others are going to be outraged.  The lack of knowledge as to the true meaning of a symbol on the part of the person wearing it is not going to prevent others from being offended.   

To some degree this is still a free country and people have a right to wear offensive symbols.   Those who are offended also have a right to the freedom of speech and thus may inform these idiots that they are displaying symbols which are offensive to many who do know what they mean.   

The fact that the “peace symbol” has become a fad with young people is not a coincidence.  The far left has targeted our youth for more than 100 years.   Another example of extremism being sold to our young “people as “cool” are the Che” shirts.  You cannot walk around an American college without seeing students wearing Che Guevara shirts.  Che is revered by the left for his part in the Cuban Revolution.  Che was Castro’s executioner.   He and his firing squads murdered as many as 14,000 people simply because they had different political views.  Here is a famous quote from Che.  “I dream of being a cold blooded killing machine.”   Under Castro he achieved that dream.

Che was a mass murderer who killed many people by his own hand.  Would we allow our children to wear a Che Guevara shirt because “all the kids are doing it and it is cool?”  Why not wear a shirt with a picture of Hitler?  The primary difference between Hitler and Che is the number of people that each of them murdered.  Unlike Hitler, Che murdered many of his victims by his own hand.  Symbols have meaning and should not be ignored.  I am always surprised that the relatives of the thousands of people murdered by Che do not beat the living daylights out of every useful idiot that they see wearing a picture of Che on their shirt.  Why not wear a picture of James Earl Ray or Lee Harvey Oswald on your shirt?  No, of course not, that would be offensive.  Can we not understand how offensive the wearing of a “peace symbol” or a picture of Che is to the people who know what these symbols represent?

When I was visiting UCSB, prior to my youngest son enrolling, I attended a walking tour led by two young girls who were students there.  During the tour they pointed out places where peace/anti war demonstrations had occurred during the Vietnam War.  They were giggling as they talked about these events as if they were nothing more than a college prank.  After the tour I explained to these students how these demonstrations prolonged the war and caused the death of thousands of young Americans who were exactly their age.  When I finished they were in tears and apologized profusely.  They were not bad people; they were simply ignorant about their countries history.  “If we do not know history we are doomed to repeat it.”

One other thought.  Slaves might well be living in peace.  Where did we get the idea that peace is better than freedom?   In our home we pray for victory and I have asked others to do the same.  If peace were the ultimate goal we could merely surrender to those who would enslave us and there would be no more war.  What good is Peace without freedom?  Most Americans are in fact free because better Americans have made it so.  Thank God we have people who are still willing to serve in the United States military.  During WWII our citizens went around offering the V for Victory sign to people they met.  Consider how far has our nation has fallen in only 65 years.           

It is my hope that now knowing the history and true meaning of the “peace symbol” you will understand how offensive it is to others as it should be to you.  If you respect our combat veterans or you are a Christian, I very respectfully request that you reconsider allowing or condoning the wearing of this offensive symbol by your children.  Thank you for your consideration in this matter.    

Lawrence Mudgett

Infantry Light Weapons Sergeant (11B40)

Bravo Company, First Battalion, Eighth Cavalry, First Air Cavalry Division

Republic of South Vietnam 1967-1968

Retired LAPD Officer