In 1967, Leo Thorsness’ wingman was shot down over North Vietnam was shot down over North Vietnam. Thorness, flying an F-105, stuck around, according to the citation when his Medal of Honor was presented. He spent six years in a POW camp, then tried to launch a political career in South Dakota.
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It’s quite a sight once a year when Israelis stop what they’re doing for two minutes. Today is that day. It’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. Read more →
There were 70 members when the St. Peter Last Man’s Club was formed, setting aside a 1973 bottle of bourbon to be opened when there were only two left.
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Raymond Haerry returned home last weekend. He was one of the last survivors of the sinking of the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Read more →
It was on this date in 1945 that Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp, was liberated by soldiers from the 6th Armored Division of the Third Army.
Edward R. Murrow faced the task of telling the story of Buchenwald with no tape recorded audio, no fancy production, just words. Read more →
The danger of the news business is it can desensitize us to the news.
If you see something often enough, the shock of it wears away until it seems like something normal. When things are normal, we tend not to pay much attention to it. Read more →
A year ago, a report said the Veterans Administration crisis hotline was putting vets on hold. Politicians said all the things you’d expect politicians to say. The VA said it was hiring additional staff to comply with the inspector general’s report. And then nothing really changed.
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The old-timers who served in World War II tended not to talk about what they did. Too bad, because it deprived families from a fuller picture of their lives. Read more →
This picture from Aleppo has the world paying attention again. Photography can do that. Read more →
Although they get credit in captions, photojournalists work in comparative obscurity. Read more →
Some people can look away from the killings and attacks on innocent people in Syria. And then there are the Canadians. Read more →
For years, Star Tribune legend Sid Hartman warned his legions against the Twin Cities becoming ‘a cold Omaha.’ Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Read more →
NPR’s StoryCorps is finding an embarrassment of riches in Minnesota. For three straight weeks, the Friday morning tradition has featured stories from the state. Today, it’s an update with Paul Braun, the sergeant of the company he was assigned to in Iraq, and “Philip”, who was an interpreter in Iraq. Read more →
Flags in Minnesota are flying at half-staff today, under orders from Gov. Mark Dayton, who knows a timely lesson when he sees it.
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Mikhail Gorbachev opines today that the world seems to be preparing for war.
Good morning!
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Bob Collins