The Soldier, The Sailor & The Senator
Prisoner #313052 was wounded and, a few days later, taken captive by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. A member of the 86th and 28th Infantry Divisions during World War II, George Chilton aka “dad” would later be liberated by the Russians and awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service. He never did claim the Bronze Star. He said he didn’t like to think about what he had to do to earn it. And thus, ever since I was a young girl, I was made aware that there are ordinary people who do extraordinary things…
Mitt Romney’s French Connection
By Jim Wright What do you call a man who speaks multiple languages? A polyglot. What do you call a man who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a man who only speak one language – and poorly at that? An American. Goddamned right. There’s only one language worth knowing and that’s English American. Speak it loud, speak it proud. Speak it really slowly so that that natives will understand. Turns out that Mitt Romney speaks French. Can you believe it? French. Of all the languages that are not the biblically musical angelic language of Heaven, i.e. English American, Romney chose French. The language of beret wearing socialist surrender…
Memorial Day 2011
By Jim Wright (Stonekettle Station) It’s a beautiful day here in the Alaskan Mat-Su. It’s perfect day for grilling out or just working in the yard or maybe taking nice hike – and I may do all three. It’s also nearly ten years now since those terrible days of 2001. A full decade of war and death and sacrifice. For some of our children, the most recent generation and the ones just now reaching the age of reason and awareness, they have never known an America not at war. Think about that. Their grandparents came of age in the 1950s,…
Voices from the Flats – Iditarod 2011
By Jim Wright The following story of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race first appeared on Stonekettle Station in 2009. With this week’s kickoff of the Last Great Race, and my well known passion for it, a number of folks have asked about the origins of the event. Here’s the story: AN EPIDEMIC OF DIPHTHERIA IS ALMOST INEVITABLE HERE STOP I AM IN URGENT NEED OF ONE MILLION UNITS OF DIPTHERIA ANTITOXIN STOP MAIL IS ONLY FORM OF TRANSPORTATION STOP … Those lines were part of a message sent by Curtis Welch, MD, on January 22nd, 1925 via radio telegram from…