Two Lives, Two Deaths

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Carl Chinn

Carl Chinn

May 30, 2026

There are two men I have known about over the last 50 years who led remarkably different lives. One a Vietnam veteran, the other a Civil Rights leader.

I won’t use the real name for the veteran. We’ll just call him John Doe. The Civil Rights leader was Bob Woodson (real name). They recently died just a week apart. Learning of their deaths in the same hour, I was struck by their vastly different lives.

While I highly regard all who served, a combat tour does not allow a pass on basic human decency. John Doe was OK until he learned PTSD claims might pay big. It seemed (to him) that the worse your experiences in combat, the bigger the payoff.

So, John grossly embellished his Vietnam experience. He wrote a statement about it for the VA. He sent it to fellow veterans he had served with, asking them to sign it, verifying what they (and he) did over there. However, his statement wasn’t remotely accurate.

It’s what he did next, to his fellow veterans who would not sign it, that prompted me to write this. He took to social media, launching a smear campaign about those who wouldn’t sign his statement. He obsessed, even contacting their local newspapers trying to get them to publish his derogatory fabrications about their local Vietnam veteran. If John ever got his PTSD payoff, it didn’t change things for him. He died bitter and rejected. I find 29 words of tribute to him (all in his obituary).

Opposite that is Bob Woodson. Woodson tributes were published in The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, The National Review, and local newspapers across America. His work positively influenced thousands across America.

I liked the tribute posted in the Woodson Center (which he founded). My favorite article however, is one my own brother wrote. I encourage you to take the 3 minutes to read that tribute: On Bob Woodson, from Ed Chinn.

Woodson was a man driven to help the Black community to not be about victimization, but radical grace. Not about revenge but restoration. And that restoration being achieved, not granted.

Think About it

How do you want to be remembered? As someone so concerned about your own possessions, you are willing to be a professional victim?

Or are you willing to leave a legacy of intentional protection for those you love?

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