A speech Bart Tippetts gave during the MESJ Utah County Sept 21 2007 Peace Vigil

When I was young I rushed off toward Vietnam thinking I was serving my country, fighting communism and being part of those good patriotic things. What I saw and what I did was evil. I was part of war killing machine. We were told to kill many Viet Cong as possible as to maximize a body count in hopes to demoralize the enemy. After the battle of Suoi Tre during Junction City operation around March 21, 1967, we slaughtered 800 Vietnamese during a human wave attack; all mangled and blown to bits. We buried them into two huge pits., so I guess we got our body count. Previously when I landed on a rice paddy before the big battle, there were other body parts of American dead solders scattered all around. I had to carry body bags back to a helicopter; some containing only fractions of human beings. . These images often haunt me today.

As a Latter-Day Saint, as a follower of Jesus Christ and because of my experiences in Viet Nam, I must be an advocate in opposing un righteous wars.

In 1942 , the LDS First Presidency declared that ,"the Church is and must be against war.... It cannot regard war as a righteous means of settling international disputes; these should and could be settled--the nations agreeing--by peaceful negotiation and adjustment." President Harold B. Lee also reaffirmed this position when he spoke about the Viet Nam conflict. If it applies to Vietnam it also should apply to the Iraq war.

Spencer W. Kimball, N. Eldon Tanner& Marion G. Romney also declared ... " While recognizing the need for strength to repel any aggressor, we are enjoined by the word of God to "Renounce War and Proclaim Peace! We call upon the heads of nations to sit down and reason together in good faith to resolve their differences. "2 (See Messages of the First Presidency)

Nations should not to rush to war when prophet Moroni "...taught never to give an offense, yea, and never to raise a sword except it were against an enemy, except it were to preserve their lives". (Book of Mormon: Alma 48:14)

We should have never attacked Iraq under pre-emptive war doctrine when that country was not a threat to our security nor being responsible for the attacks during Sept 11, 2007. We took an offense and now we our bogged down in a sectarian conflict. US occupation of Iraq needs to end. This conflict was based upon deception and fabrication. United States military invasion on Iraq was naked aggression committed against another country. We took an offense and a sword was lifted not to preserved our lives.

In Vietnam we tried to kill many so called enemy soldiers as we can to defeat the enemy, and in Iraq tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead mainly because of the US invasion has helped breed nothing but conflict and sectarian hatred.

We are reminded by the remarks of President Gordon B. Hinckley, "War I hate with all its mocking panoply.... War is Earth's greatest cause of human misery. It is the destroyer of life, the promoter of hate, the waster of treasure. It is man's costliest folly, his most tragic misadventure." (Salt Lake Tribune, 2007) This is so true in Iraq. It is our most tragic misadventure.

As Latter-Day Saints we must be against this Iraq war. We should renounce it and work toward a peaceful solution. Nations go to war but this Church nor its Saints should not perpetuate violent conflicts but stand apart from the world and lift an ensign for peace. Zion is our quest. Come to Zion as we try making a state of things to unite all people toward peace and encourage nations to turn their war machines into pruning hooks.