The Three John Namesakes I Know Who Fought for Justice and Humanity.
It is an open secret that our actions and inactions will linger long after we are long gone. The lives of these John namesakes would prove it.
JOHN the Baptist
John the Baptist’s boldness and truthfulness made him one of my John heroes. Moreover, he was a popular figure in the Bible, but what came next in his life was shocking.
King Herod beheaded John because of his strong opposition to the king’s shameful acts.
John the Baptist repeatedly rebuked Herod for marrying his niece Herodias, whose mother had been Philip’s wife. The reason being Philip was still living and both Philip and Antipas were uncles to Herodias, Herod’s marriage to Herodias violated God’s law in Leviticus 18:16–20–21.
After Salome’s shameless dance to entice the king, she didn’t see anything better to ask the king for her birthday gift other than John the Baptist’s head (Mark 6:24–25 NLT).
And to please Queen Herodias’s evil daughter (Salome), who was acting on her mother’s advice, the king conceded to beheading John the Baptist.
Despite the pain, the king had to honor his word and fulfill the golden promise he made as king. So, my prime choice among the Johns became John the Baptist who died as a martyr.
John McCain
And as it couldn’t be otherwise, John Sidney McCain III, popularly known as John McCain, became my second choice of the John namesakes. He was a man of value, dignity, and a person who loved justice.
John served his country gallantly as a military man as well as a US Senator representing Arizona.
I admired him for holding fast to his convictions without compromising. He taught and led his colleagues’ fellow senators in a manner befitting a capable leader.
Despite belonging to the same Republican Party, he was constantly at odds with President Trump.
He was patriotic and humble to the point of presenting on the Senate floor from his sick bed, so debilitating was cancer ravaging his body at the time.
He treated his political opponents with respect. This was manifested when he told a lady that President Barack Obama was a very decent man.
Even though they were from different parties, that one act distinguished John Sidney McCain as a remarkable role model for a generation to come.
Political parties aside, they should learn to judge a leader by his stature and what he brings to the table and not his party affiliation.
The daughter of John McCain, Meghan McCain, a prominent contributor to “The View” TV program on ABC, mirrored the image of her father through her uncompromised and consistent stand.
She stood firm against the dominated Democrat women on “The View,” and she afforded me and others a glimpse of what McCain’s father stood for through her strictness and discipline.
According to Wikipedia and the free Encyclopedia, John McCain’s life and career can be summarized as follows:
· The early life and military career of John Sidney McCain III spans the first forty-five years of his life (1936–1981).
· McCain’s father and grandfather were admirals in the United States Navy. McCain was born on August 29, 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone, and attended many schools growing up as his family moved among naval facilities.
· He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958. He married the former Carol Shepp in 1965; he adopted two children from her previous marriage, and they had another child together.
· As a naval aviator, McCain flew attack aircraft from carriers.
· During the Vietnam War, he narrowly escaped death in the 1967 Forrestal fire.
· On his twenty-third bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder in October 1967, he was shot down over Hanoi and badly injured. He subsequently endured five and a half years as a prisoner of war, including periods of torture.
· In 1968, he refused a North Vietnamese offer of early release, because it would have meant leaving before other prisoners who had been held longer. He was released in 1973 after the Paris Peace Accord.
Upon his return, McCain studied at the Naval War College, commanded a large training squadron in Florida, and was appointed the Navy liaison to the U.S. Senate.
He divorced his wife Carol in 1980 and married the former Cindy Hensley shortly thereafter. He retired from the Navy in 1981 as a captain.
It’s remarkable to note that John was born on August 29, 1936, and died on August 25, 2018, in Cornville, Arizona. Is the August month of his birth and death a coincidence or a way to signal a man of significant standing?
John McCain died as a US senator representing Arizona and was the Republican Party’s nominee for president in 2008.
John E. Bennet
The list least not the last of the Johns includes John E. Bennet.
Bennet became an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Equatorial Guinea on July 2, 1991.
And subsequently, he presented his Credentials to President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, on September 5, 1991.
Fernando Poo Island, World War II
The ten headstones mark the graves of British airmen who were killed when their plane crashed there during World War II.
Why the Royal Air Force Sunderland Flying Boat crashed on this island on June 3, 1944, en route from Lagos, Nigeria, to Libreville, Gabon, or who recovered the bodies, remains unknown.
Despite the conflicting accounts, none seems corroborated with much evidence.
The title of Douglas Farah’s interview/report, “A Matter of ‘Honor’ in a Jungle Graveyard”, is damn right.
The noble efforts of the British and American compatriots were no doubt motivated by honor and respect for the fallen heroes.
Despite this, it is evident that the graves of the fliers have been cared for by British officials, U.S. diplomats, and oil company workers over the last fifty-seven years.
Their efforts led to one of the more interesting and obscure chapters in modern U.S. diplomatic history, with repercussions that continue to this day.
In 1994, after John Bennett was accused of witchcraft at graves in Equatorial Guinea, the United States stopped posting ambassadors to the country.
According to Equatorial Guinean officials, Bennett attempted to harm President Teodoro Obiang, who seized power in 1979 and remains in power today.
Bennett had a chilly relationship with the government and criticized Obiang’s human rights record.
Fortunately, he wasn’t alone. In 1993, Obiang called for the nation’s first legislative elections under heavy pressure from foreign governments. Washington, however, branded the election a sham and boycotted it.
On two occasions, I have seen John Bennet in action. In the first encounter, he was asking Obiang’s spokesperson Fernando Nve’gu of blessed memory, about who was he to insult the United States of America.
To absolve himself from such a distasteful situation and not become the scapegoat, the poor man responded, “Your Excellency, who am I to say such a thing?”
By saying that to John, his reply didn’t sit too well with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and he got very a dirty slap for the answer given.
Another incident occurred at the Malabo airport when John personally escorted a student who was also a critic of the government in Guinea.
The student was traveling to the States but could not be allowed to board the plane by government agents.
Though John did his job quietly, he was noticed even by the downtrodden.
It would be wonderful if people like John Bennet could reach the highest position of power in the White House.
Perhaps he could have flushed out the weeds of dictators (such as President Teodoro Obiang), who have turned that country into an African North Korea. a feat that even Barack Obama, the first African American president, failed to accomplish.
Does that mean that American presidents (except for Trump) must always adhere to American interests and dance to the tune of the establishment despite atrocities and human rights abuses in many third-world countries, especially in Africa?
Is it not time to abolish the obsolete United Nations “non-interference” in the internal policies that killer dictators like Obiang use as a weapon to further oppress their people?
The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary diplomatic mission of John Bennet to Equatorial Guinea sadly came to an end on February 25, 1994.
Regardless of politics, these are just a few of the many famous and influential “Johns” many of whom are no longer with us but remain deeply ingrained in our hearts.
Hopefully, there will be another post about the Johns and others that have played such a significant role in our world history.
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