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□ PEACE AWARDContinued from 1ADuring “the Hitler years. thousands of German refugees from Nazism crowded into brown-stone row houses that entrepreneurs had subdivided into cramped, multiple dwellings in their neighborhood. Walz saidWalz’s congregation gave sanctuary to an anti-Nazi church executive and his wife from entrapment in Nazi-occupied France,“From them and the people they helped. I learned much about the spin-offs of war.” Walz said “Support from other churches enabled us to add a doctor and a social worker, both refugees. and an American secretary to our full-time staff.”When World War II ended. Walz’s congregation was given the Presbyterian Distinguished Service Award “for service to refugees.” The British government decorated Walz with the King George VI Medal for Service in the Cause of FreedomWalz claims no pet projects in his peacemaking efforts.“I tend to feel that the victim is in a less ready place to interpret his or her needs, so that has been my emphasis. he said, “in terms of housing, food, medical care and education.The Walzes discovered that their Manhattan experience was but a conditioning for further ventures Coupled witt a stint as a World Council of Churches information officer, his years in New York prepared him for more.In the late '60s. Walz’s parishioners freed him to compile a three-month report on ecumenical refugee services in France. Italy. Greece and the Middle East “in the interest of stimulating support from American churches ”Walz’s religious horizons were broadened by close association with people of other faiths, he said, “especially Jewish and Muslim. who were seeking to apply their religious convictions to conflict resolution on many levels.”“It is important to realize that (peacemaking) is not about one group being inhumane or vicious, but about all humanity being undisciplined.” Walz saidIn 1956 and 1957. Walz said. “I was on the Hungarian border as escaping people were being shot at by Russians ’’“It’s difficult not to have anti-Russian feelings.” Walz admittedThat is why he plans to visit the Soviet Union This year is the 1,000th anniversary of Russian Christianity. Walz said His children. Pauline Webb of Milton and the Rev. Frederick S. Walz ot Denver, will accompany him.Walz lives at Cedar Crest, where Mrs. Walz. who currently lives at St. Elizabeth Home, will join him soon.Walz is a director of Americans for Middle East Understanding, an associate director of the National Council of Churches’ Department of Christian-Muslim Relations. a member of Milwaukee Presbytery's Peacemaking Committee. the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s Islamic-Christian Dialogue. Madison Middle East Concerned Citizens and Janesville Rotary’s International Scholarship CommitteeHe is a consultant to First Presbyterian Church’s Prince of Peace task force and writes for various religious journals on peace-related themes.Walz’s determination to pursue peace was heightened by the experience of his only nephew, David Mossner, who considered himself a “conscientious objector’’ during the Vietnam War. But. Walz said. Mossner thought if he was going to work against war. he should know what he was working against, so he enlisted in the Army. ' 'iFollowing is an excerpt from a letter Mossner wrote to friends in February 1970:“Once you are out on an ambush you pretty well have to go through with it. If you move to a different site you get hit by your owm artillery, and if you let the poor bastards walk right past, you risk either being noticed and killed or being court-martialed“You can’t hear them coming: their feet, you think, can’t be touching the ground. You are down an embankment in the bushes, below the level of their feet, and the little men appear enormous against the sky. They stop right in front of you Oh Jesus. why couldn’t you have stayed home tonight, you poor bastards?“ ... Pick up the bodies at daybreak Wish to hell it hadn’t been your turn to ambush. Throw up a iittle the first time. Pull guard all night the second time, unable tosleep. %:On June 6. 1970. Mossner’s parents received the following telegram: crs : Yv 'THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY HAS ASKED ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR SON, SERGEANT DAVID C. MOSSNER. WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN VIETNAM ON 1 JUNE 1970. HE WAS ON A COMBAT OPERATION WHEN A BOOBY TRAP DETONATED ... ”As long as such inanity existsin the world—anywhere—Humphrey Walz will continue to be a peacemaker.
Newspaper Details
Janesville Gazette
Janesville, Wisconsin, US
Fri, Jan 15, 1988
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
WI, USA 25 Apr 2019
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