Charlie ClementsDr. Charles Clements, MD, is a remarkable figure whose life journey embodies a profound moral transformation. A Distinguished Graduate and second-in-class at the U.S. Air Force Academy, he served as a C-130 pilot, flying over fifty combat missions inVietnam. His experiences in Southeast Asia, witnessing civilian slaughter, government deception, and the manipulation of casualty figures, profoundly disillusioned him and ignited a deep commitment to non-violence. This led to his refusal to fly further combat missions, resulting in confinement in a psychiatric ward and his eventual discharge from the Air Force. Subsequently, he pursued a career in medicine, graduating from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1980. In 1982, spurred by the plight of Salvadoran refugees he treated in California and reports of abuses against health professionals, Clements volunteered to serve as the sole fully trained physician for approximately 10,000 civilians and combatants in a rebel-controlled zone of El Salvador. Following his return, he dedicated himself to advocating for peace and justice in Central America, testifying before Congress and educating the American public about the war's realities, later becoming President and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. His memoir, "Witness to War," powerfully chronicles this intensely personal odyssey. Read More Read Less