I have to wonder, why has the most famous veteran (alive or dead) of the Afghanistan/Iraq wars not been mentioned as an atheist? Why should it matter? It shouldn’'t, it really shouldn't. The religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs of any veteran of any war should not matter anymore then that of someone running for elected office. But, it matters more so then if the veteran was Jewish or Hindu or even Muslim because none of those groups are unfairly labeled with the view that when the bullets start flying, the artillery shells start pounding and the roadside bombs start exploding that they will acquire certain religious beliefs. Simply, there isn't any statement that there are "no Jews in foxholes." Ditto for any statements concerning Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans or Baptists.

No, only atheists get that label. The fact is that there are and have always been atheists in foxholes. People who were non-believers in combat, suffered through it and never found God in the process. How do I know? Well, because they say so. They have names. Lt. Col. Renfro, Vietnam veteran; Major Gary Welch, Vietnam veteran; Army Sgt. Secor, Iraq. Just visit the website, "Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers" to view their names and their stories. There are more names but I would need pages of newsprint to publish them and even that would make up only a fraction of the atheists who have died in our nation’s wars.

One famous atheist in a foxhole was Ted Williams, baseball star and combat pilot in two wars. So, with such overwhelming evidence that there are in fact atheists in foxholes why does this saying still exist? Are all these men and women liars? That I sincerely doubt. Many believers in God simply cannot fathom that someone cannot believe in God when their life is threatened by enemy fire. But it happens.

Now, this other reason of mine I hope is not correct. It is that people want to believe there aren't atheists in foxholes because if none exist then atheists are less patriotic than "normal Americans." Easier to ignore. But, a God's existence isn't contingent on the basis that while under the stress of combat, soldiers remain atheists or theists anymore then human beings exist based on insects believing in human beings as they engage in their own form of combat. Simply no belief system is true or not because of the courage of its believers, be it religion or anything else, while under stress.

Now, monuments exist that are supposed to honor all of our nation's veterans but many are religious in nature. For example, the Mt. Soledad Cross on public land or quasi-public land in San Diego. It is what its name describes, a giant Christian cross. This strangely wasn't made a veterans’ monument until contested as a Constitutional violation by Paul Paulson, an atheist and also Vietnam combat veteran, but that last part usually isn't reported in stories about him. But, if there are no atheists in foxholes then it is perfectly OK to have religious symbols to honor the supposedly religious-only vets of America. But again, the problem is that there are vets who don't believe in God.

Now, who was this famous Iraq/Afghanistan vet I named in the beginning this column? Some might have guessed already. It is Pat Tillman, who Lt. Col. Kauzlarich noted came from a family of atheists and Pat's brother Rich who at Pat’s funeral stated that Pat did not believe in a God.

Shaun Slack

Americus