Fatherhood, Muhammad Ali and Moral Courage

[JohnyCanuck]

Fatherhood, Muhammad Ali and Moral Courage

By David Antoon


SNIP


My time in the Air Force Academy (1966-1970) had coincided with Ali’s refusal to be inducted into the military. Ali served prison time because of an issue of conscience. Our government had wanted Ali not only as a soldier but as a highly visible recruiting tool, the Pat Tillman of his era; instead his fight raised the consciousness about what was really happening in Vietnam. My military career—academy graduate, Vietnam combat tours, decades of observation as a career officer and finally critical analysis—as in the case of Bacevich, was now confronting my responsibilities as a father.

I went down to first class on the airliner to find the man who had floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. Ali is still a big man, dwarfing those around him. I knelt so I could look him right in the eye and told him I considered him a hero not for his world championship title fights but for having the moral courage to refuse induction into the Army during Vietnam. Ali’s hand shook with tremors as he extended it to me; he nodded. He has a hard time speaking now but I could see he was moved by what I had told him. His battle of conscience has ended; for many of us those battles are still to come.

When I graduated from the Air Force Academy I did not question orders. Later, I chose to believe that our presence in Vietman was necessary for America’s “national interest.” I was wrong. It did not come to me in one day, but over a period of years—the result of a gut-wrenching look at U.S. military operations during my lifetime.

I was in the Philippines for jungle survival training in 1974 when I bumped into Capt. Don Dawson, a B-52 pilot, on my way to the officer’s club. Don and I had been in the same squadron at the academy. Don was always one of the good guys, quiet, laid back and unflappable. He had been at Clark Air Base for nearly a year under house arrest at that point because he refused to continue to do carpet-bombing missions into Cambodia. “I can’t do this anymore” was what he told his commander—and what he told me. He was put under house arrest awaiting court-martial for refusing to participate. For Don the final straw had been the annihilation of an entire wedding party

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070619_fatherhood_muhammad_ali_and_moral_courage/

The author goes on to describe how after a heart to heart talk on US militarism with his son (who wanted to join the USAF to fly fighter jets) his son turned down a coveted appointment to the Air Force Academy.

[JohnyCanuck]

1. kick n/t

[FloridaJudy]

2. K&R for a great article n/t

[TX-RAT]

3. Went to prison? When?

[bigtree]

5. there's an excellent movie which Ali stars in himself which chronicles the period

I knew him as Cassius Clay before he took that stand.

It would be well worth your while to look up the history, from many accounts.

[TX-RAT]

6. I knew he almost went.

Wasn't aware he actually did time.

[H2O Man]

7. He didn't.

Ali did not serve any time in prison as a result of the draft conflict.

[malaise]

4. One of the best articles I have read

on a parent's responsibility to his child. The bottom line is that telling the truth to our children supercedes the so called 'national interest' of robber barons parading as democratic governments across the globe. If we cannot keep our own children alive by telling them the truth, who else can we protect?

That was beautiful. Ali transcended all that is sport.
A thousand thanks David Antoon. I will send this to everyone I know.

[arikara]

8. My father was golden gloves

and aiming for the same Olympics as Ali... to represent Canada though, not the US. Dad once lost a bout where the winner went on to fight Cassius Clay just before he turned pro.

Ali and Dad were both the old time gentlemanly fighters. And they both paid a heavy price for their sport. Ali with Parkinsons and Dad with dementia at a far too young age. My grandfather was also a fighter and he too developed early dementia. So sad, they were all such kind, nice, gentle men.

[H2O Man]

9. I remember

Bob Edgett, who ran one of Canada's best amateur boxing teams in the 1960s. He was a good friend for many years. In the late 1970s, a couple teams from Canada would compete against ours in upstate New York.

[arikara]

10. Dad might have known him

Where was he from? Dad was from Fraser Valley in BC but they fought in the US too.

[H2O Man]

11. Did your Dad

know the Hiltons? I think they were connected to Bob Edgett in their early years, though it was likely the older generation.




There's one of my favorite Canadians on the right; my daughter took this picture a week ago today.

[arikara]

12. Thanks, that's a nice picture

I don't know if Dad knew the Hiltons, I was just a real young'un when he was still actively fighting. Sadly, I can no longer ask him these things. Physically he looks younger than his years, but he doesn't even know me anymore. Probably can't blame it entirely on the sport but it sure didn't help him.

[H2O Man]

13. In my family,

it is my oldest brother, who had a long amateur and pro career, and who had the same defensive skills as Jerry Quarry -- "that didn't hurt!" -- who by the age 50 was forgetting who I was, and who thought the trips to the hospital were our going to the hardware store for nails for our late father. It's most often a combination of factors that, along with organic damage from taking punches, sets a cruel trail that some old fights go down.

[Breeze54]

14. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

Great post and supports our present soldiers saying NO MORE WAR!!!!!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: