Topics: Jesus Christ; Love; Regret; Sacrifice
References: Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18
Ivan, a Vietnam veteran who lives in Denver, is tormented by something that happened more than three decades ago.
While in Vietnam, Ivan’s squad befriended some Vietnamese village children who visited the men daily to peddle candy. Ivan became like a father to Kim, age seven, picking her up and whirling her around. He held her on his lap and told her he loved her.
Then one day Kim was used by the Vietcong as a kamikaze. She showed up alone at the soldiers’ camp, wired with explosives. But before she got close, she unbuttoned her blouse to show the soldiers the bomb. It was her way of telling the Americans she would kill them if they allowed her to come any closer. Ivan was one of the men who shot her.
Kim gave her life so Ivan could live. And his life is a wreck because he could not save her.
—Bruce Weber, “Bill McCartney, Away from the Sideline, Brings His Inspirational Message to the Bowery,” The New York Times (June 20, 1997)