Don’t rush to judgment
in case of Vietnam vet

It had to come as a shock to residents of Spotswood last weekend to learn that one of their neighbors had stockpiled a huge arsenal of weaponry, much of it the kind whose only use is the taking of human life.

By all accounts, Richard E. Schaefle is a quiet man who minds his own business and lives in a house all but tucked away from view — the kind of neighbor you seldom see and seldom think about.

Even the folks in the bar of the local American Legion Post, just across the street from Schaefle’s DeVoe Avenue home, said that although the decorated Vietnam vet is a member in good standing of the organization, they can’t remember him ever coming in.

Nor, as far as anyone knows, has Schaefle ever had a problem with the police, or with any other local authorities.

Borough Business Adminis-trator Wayne Hamilton echoed the general sentiment of Spotswood officials at Monday night’s Borough Council meeting when he said, "The only remarks we’ve heard describe him [are] as a quiet, nice man who never bothered anyone."

As with any case of this nature, one in which something far out of the ordinary intrudes into the daily lives of community members and makes them afraid, there’s a tendency to rush to judgment.

And many remarks we’ve heard in the few days since the discovery of Schaefle’s arsenal and some of the other bizarre artifacts in his home suggest he must be some sort of unstable, dangerous individual deserving of punishment. What sane person would amass such a collection, after all?

But Schaefle has only been charged. He has not been convicted, and he fully deserves the presumption of innocence, the benefit of the doubt.

As his attorney told us this week, Schaefle is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who was awarded prestigious medals for service to his country, including the meritorious Bronze Star.

Perhaps his compulsion to collect weaponry stems from that experience, but that is for the courts to decide.

For now, it’s enough for us to consider that in spite of Schaefle’s collection of lethal weapons, he has spent his life healing, not harming his fellow man — first as a medic in the service, and then for more than 20 years in area hospitals.

At this point, no one — even the county prosecutor — believes he ever intended to harm a soul.

And that is something we must try to remember.

— G.B.