by Adin Strauss
SGI-USA General Director
“Nothing is more barbarous than war. Nothing is more cruel.”[1]
The anguish and futility of war is captured in these opening lines of The Human Revolution, Ikeda Sensei’s masterwork and a book that changed the course of my life forever.
Sensei was speaking about World War II, but his sentiments extend to all wars in all places. They deprive people, ordinary people, of their humanity and their most fundamental right—the right to exist.
Fifty years ago this month, the Vietnam War concluded with the Fall of Saigon, ending nearly a decade of direct combat between the U.S. and North Vietnam.
Tragically, more than 1 million Vietnamese were killed. And of the more than 58,000 U.S. servicemembers who lost their lives there, the average age was 23 years old, according to the Vietnam Veteran Project.
That’s to say nothing of the 153,000 wounded in battle and untold others who experienced severe psychological damage and lasting health effects from the war.
Among the veterans who returned home were some of the earliest members of the SGI in America, many of whom I’ve had the privilege to get to know. In recent years, we’ve been seeking to delve more deeply into their contributions to the kosen-rufu movement in the U.S., wanting to preserve their stories for posterity.
For that reason, this month, we are launching “Heroes of Peace: The SGI-USA Vietnam Video Series” to tell the stories of these incredible veterans, which overflow with a profound conviction that the SGI’s movement of human revolution is indeed the key to peace. A new faith experience will be released each month on the newest version of the World Tribune app and on our SGI-USA YouTube channel.
The series begins with Doug Kimball, of Lancaster, California, who was introduced to Buddhism shortly before being drafted in March 1968 as an infantryman.
He survived the war and, after five decades, said that it never fails to amaze him that the practice works if he’s willing to put in the effort and chant the daimoku necessary to secure victory. “There’s no other organization on the planet that embraces and encourages human beings the way the SGI does,” he says in the video. “That’s what the world needs, especially right now.”
It’s a vision he and the other veterans have upheld by sharing the same vow and spirit as their mentor, expressed in the opening lines of The New Human Revolution: “Nothing is more precious than peace. Nothing brings more happiness. Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind.”[2]
We hope you enjoy the series.
April 18, 2025 World Tribune, pp. 6–7
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