Notley[kip] Maddox:  

Dear Friends: Since high school graduation: I have had many experiences which have made an impact on my life. I was accepted to the Architecture Curriculum at U. Conn, Waterbury, but my family did not have sufficient funds for my college education. [Both parents did not graduate from high school.] I did have a desire to go to Atlantic Union College, a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts and by Faith walked onto campus. And though I did well in Math [SAT: 94%], my English was low D's{SAT: 34%.} I chose to pull my draft and was inducted as a Conscientious Objector due to my religion: Seventh-day Adventist, and fully expected to go to Vietnam as a combat medic without a weapon; excepting Christ's Faith. As you know, I had a fair voice and at the induction station [Ft. Dix,} the colonel's wife running the base choir wanted to keep me at the chapel for 2 years, but I was not convinced that was in God's Plan for me. I was not a hero [my father was awarded the Silver star on Omaha Beach 1944, and a battle field commission.] but I wished to serve my God and Country. It was suggested that I could enter the Army Air Corps due to my math scores, flying a push-pull Cessna drawing enemy fire so that a F-4 Phantom jet could annihilate the enemy. But I would still be responsible for their deaths, so I was sent to San Antonio, Texas to become a medic. Once in AIT, Advanced Individual Training, I realized that what I didn't know could cause my patients harm, my poor reading skills. So I studied all the time that I was off, excepting my Sabbath. Much to my surprise, of 250 medics graduating, I was in the top 3, which meant I would stay in the USA for another 8 months prior to going over seas. Thus I went to Ft Bragg, NC. It was there that my conscientious objector was instituted. I noted that the sergeant of the guard placed me on guard duty on Friday in 5 weeks, I went in to inform him that I would do guard duty with a whistle or Kitchen Patrol an other date. He stated:”Don't worry about it.” I repeated the request on each Friday evening until 4:30 of the day of the duty. And got the same reply. I then informed him of the address of the church I would be at, 6pm, that evening so that the MP's would know where to come and pick me up. They never came. On traveling down I 95, during a rain storm, my car quit and I rolled into a Rest Area. After the rain quit, I tried to restart the car and it fired up. On driving one mile down the road , the entire freeway was the scene of a massive pile-up. I had missed it during the rainstorm. I was assured of God's protection. I had reached the rank of E-3, Private first class and was due to becoming E4 medical specialist, but a married man was moving to Germany with his family, so I gave him my slot as he was probably not going to receive rank outside of a war zone. At thirteen months, I went to Vietnam and on reaching the 60th Medical Battleon, I was about to go through the door of the quonset hut when one individual [off three siting at a picnic table] called me over and pointed to my orders due date which was to in 6 days. He further stated that I could sleep, eat , and entertain myself in the local barracks for 6 days and that could save my life, However, I felt that God was in control, and I needed t...Expand for more