THE MURDER OF MARTIN OLDS

I never had the honor of meeting Martin Olds, but I would like to tell you about him. 

Martin was one of the last of a dying breed. He was a farmer, a true White African and a man among men.

The product of a turbulent and uncertain time, in a little known an less understood corner of the African bush, he was one of a small but hearty breed known for a brief period in history as  Rhodesian.  Martin Olds was the kind of man most people would know only through Hollywood, or fictional novels of grand adventures.

During the seven year bush war in Rhodesia,  Martin served with the last mounted infantry unit of modern military history � the famous Grey Scouts � an elite unit much feared by the communist terrorist of the Zimbabwe liberation movement. 

In 1980 Rhodesia gave way to Zimbabwe.  Unlike so many of us who fled, he remained in the newly independent nation to try and build a life for his wife and children in the uncertainty of the emerging communist  regime of Robert Mugabe.

His raw courage became known throughout Southern Africa when he rescued a friend from a crocodile, literally snatching the man from the jaws of the beast and dragging him from the water with the croc in close pursuit.  For this remarkable act of courage,  he was awarded a medal for heroism by the government.

Martin Olds was murdered last week at the hands of the terrorists he fought over two decades ago. Savage thugs, equipped by the Zimbabwean government with Soviet made AK-47s assault rifles, attacked him while he was alone on his farm, having sent his handicapped wife and two children to the relative safety of town. 

As the attackers rallied near Martin�s farm, the Zimbabwe police stood idle in their station.  As the attack began, the police cordoned off the area to insure no other farmers would come to his aid. The Zimbabwe police, in collaboration with Mugabe�s terrorists, even blocked an ambulance enroute to the Olds� farm.

Alone, Martin fought a pitched gun battle. By most estimates he was outnumbered one hundred and fifty to one.  Armed only with a shotgun, hunting rifles and two pistols, Martin held his attackers at bay for over three hours.  Shot in the leg,  he splinted his wounded limb and continued to fight. 

In the end, his attackers set the farmhouse on fire.  When Martin was forced from the inferno, he was shot again then brutally beaten about the head.  A final bullet from an AK-47 ended his life.

Martin Olds was killed because he was white. He was killed because he had the courage to speak out against Robert Mugabe and his corrupt regime.

The death of Martin Olds was a tragedy in itself. What makes it more the tragedy is that his murder was sanctioned, if not ordered,  by the despotic leader of Zimbabwe � Robert Gabriel Mugabe.  Ironically, Martin Olds was ordered killed by the very man  who had pinned a medal for heroism on his chest.

The modern world will take little note of the death of Martin Olds and that is the shame. In a time when there are few real men left in this world, Martin Olds will be sorely missed by those of us who truly appreciate what has been lost.