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A Night with Bulls and a Day with Vets

A Night with Bulls and a Day With Vets
Walk Across America
June 18, 2004 report

By Brenda Spurlock

The 'Walk' crew spent last night in a pasture of Brahman bulls in Syracuse, Mo. Flip said, "Those things were monsters! You've never seen anything so big!" He said he woke up and went out into the pasture about one o'clock in the morning and "...four of these 2,000 pound monsters walked by. I tell you, I was never so scared in my life!"

Today it was pouring down rain with lots of lightening. There was no way the team could walk. Flip and Gib decided to go get Judgment from Elsie Darrah. Jim Zes has a veterinarian in Union, Missouri, 25 miles southwest of St. Louis, who will take Judgment in and treat him.

After they had picked up Judgment, they stopped for lunch at a local cafe. Flip said the guy serving the food had an oxygen tank. He told them he had served in Vietnam. He said he'd killed "950 people." He said he'd done long distance patrols, that he was in Vietnam in 1966, '67, and '69, and had won the medal of honor. Flip was taking all of this with a grain of salt.

He asked the vet if he had seen the Vietnam Memorial Wall. He said, "Yes, I almost got thrown in jail for peeing on it." At that moment, Flip said he had an almost overwhelming urge to beat the guy to a pulp. He asked him, "Did you do that on John Watson's name?" The guy said, "Hey, I just think this government stinks." Flip told him, "I understand what you went through. I know that feeling. Their calling you 'baby killer'...." Flip said, "I threw my uniform away at the Philadelphia Airport." (He commented, ”I've regretted that many times since.")

Flip explained, "This guy is 62 or 63, but he looks like 100 miles of bad road. I know this kind of vet. He's sickly, blaming everybody else for his sorry position, at some point he's been strung out on drugs, he's cynical." Flip knew he desperately needed Jesus so he asked him where he would go if he died tonight. "I'd go to be at the right hand of God like all good Jews," he replied. "I don't lie" (a lie!), "I don't cheat........."

Flip continued witnessing to him. He told him he could not rely on his righteousness or good works, that apart from Christ there can be no eternal life. The vet became agitated and yelled "Stop shoving your religion in my face!" Without warning or provocation, he pulled out a shotgun. Flip's son Jonathan was with them, so that was his first concern. Another customer leaped in front of the vet, yelling "John...John...no...no...no!"

"He apparently didn't want to hear about Jesus," Flip opined. "The world hates us because this gospel cuts out all good works. David Wilkerson said that," he said. "You've served your time in Vietnam and, hey, you've been working all your life and doing some good stuff.... that's filthy rags! The world keeps trying to build a case that these are wonderful things. If you don't have Christ," he said, "it's nothing."