1970 Pro-Vietnam War Sermon

Early May 1970 was a tumultuous time. May 4 brought Kent State, Nixon had just sent 30,000 troops into Cambodia, and on May 9, 100,000 people protested the Vietnam War in Washington D.C.

On May 10, in the thick of all of this, Dutch war hero and First Presbyterian Church minister Dr. Arie D. Bestebreurtje gave a fiery pro-war sermon, in reaction to national protests and protests held at UVa. It was broadcast by WINA at the time and, due to high demand, rebroadcast shortly thereafter. The event was all but forgotten until now.

Charlottesville blogger Colten Noakes bought a box of reel-to-reel tapes at a yard sale a couple of years ago, including one with the audio of that sermon. Colten has made the audio available on his website, and it definitely makes for a fascinating bit of history.

This is a great example of the value of internet archival of local media content. Though Dr. Bestebreurtje’s might have been noteworthy at the time, it’s downright fascinating these 25 years later. Day-old news might be worthless, but decade-old news is invaluable.

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