That is why it is so terrible to read a story like this in today's paper. Ben Corbett had just moved to Missoula after serving in Iraq and Kosovo. While he survived his time in the military, he suffered an unprovoked, but severe beating in downtown Missoula.
Proverbs 1:10-19
My son, if sinners entice you,
do not give in to them.
If they say, "Come along with us;
let's lie in wait for someone's blood,
let's waylay some harmless soul;
let's swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;
throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse"-
my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;
for their feet rush into sin,
they are swift to shed blood.
How useless to spread a net
in full view of all the birds!
These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves!
Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.
Ben, I am so upset and dismayed about this. May justice be served. You are in my prayers.
6 comments:
that is upsetting, my heart goes out to all the men and women in the miltary, thank you for fighting a war that america is unpopular with.
aaron
Thanks, Lance.
i hope everything is going well for you :) just checkin in
aaron
I sure as heck never leave my car unlocked here. I personally know people who had their cars broken into and their CD players and stuff taken, right here in Missoula.
Any way, I have a funny story on a related note. When my Ukrainian friend Artur first came here and we took a ride in my car, he promptly noticed the big crack in my windshield. Now, I have no idea where that crack came from, as it was already there when I bought the car from a Belorussian. Artur asked me whether I intentionally cracked it in order discourage people from wanting to steal it. Apparently, in Odessa, Ukraine, where Artur is from, it's a fairly common practice. Cars often get stripped when left out of garage over night there. You can walk out of your appartment building in the morning and discover that you're missing a couple of tires, windshield wipers, etc. When I was in Ukraine, I personally saw people take their wipers with them when leaving their cars parked for a few hours somewhere. They take out their CD player face plates even when leaving their cars for just a minute too.
I have a personal story that closely relates to the main topic of this post as well.
I was about 8 years old in Chernivtsi Ukraine. I was walking home with my mom and dad after a family gathering. My uncle and grandfather were walking us to the trolley bus stop. When we got to the bus stop, we saw a group of about half a dozen guys in their late teens brutally beating another teen. He went down and they were kicking him and laughing. There were other people around, but everyone was too afraid to get involved. My uncle, being a Russian marine officer with special forces training had plenty of bravado and a few shots of vodka in him and so he and my dad quickly got involved. Next thing I know, it's an all out brawl. My uncle quickly put a couple of guys down with some awesome judo moves and my dad is holding his own against a couple of other thugs. Then, my uncle catches a nasty flying kick to the back. Subsequently, my 58 year old grandfather who, up until that time, was observing it all with my mom and I, decided to get involved.
He went in screaming profanities and swinging like a madman, knocked out "the kicker" with a single punch and continued on. It was all over for the bad guys moments after that, as they ran off limping and holding their bleeding lips and noses. Any way, I don't have much memory of what happened after that. I think the paramedics came and checked out the kid who was beaten up. He wasn't hurt too bad.
It just made me really proud of my relatives, especially the grandpa, who gave me reasons to be proud of him many times after that as well.
If only some able, good samaritans were on that corner in Missoula at the right time that night...
Unfortunately, this was not the only act of brutality that I have witnessed in my life. Some people are just psycopaths and you can run into them anywhere.
Prizrak, that is a great story. It makes me proud of your family!
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