Because I began this column, I have tried to make it apparent that it is not a continuation of Kaye’s column. She experienced a knack and a next of viewers who cherished her structure — and the facts she furnished to them was what they required. How she managed to continue to keep track of all the birthdays and anniversaries is beyond me. I just can’t abide by that amazing feat.
But expressing that, I will make this just one exception. My friend and fellow Legionnaire, Ken Gilpatrick, will quickly be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his 50th birthday. Do I need to have to allow that sink into you for a though? He came into this earth on Aug. 13, 1922. We want to rejoice his longevity we require to celebrate his provider to our state in a time of war.
Because of Japan’s geographical proximity to Alaska, the United States was very suspicious of the Japanese all through WWII. Ken served a lot of his time in the Army on outpost, guarding the shoreline of Alaska on Kodiak Island. There were no incidents of enemy intrusion when Personal Gilpatrick was in that place, so we only suppose it was since of Ken’s expert surveillance abilities that saved The us from an assault on our northwestern coast. Properly anyway, which is my tale.
There is so considerably a lot more to Ken’s tale than I have place for in this column. I intend to generate his full story in months to come.
I believe there will be a personal relatives collecting quickly and I hope there will be a public celebration for our local community later on.
From late June to early September, even in town, you’ll hear the consistent drone of a much-away plane zigzagging above the not- much too-distant farmland. Not just airplanes but a smaller swarm of “air tractors!”
This 7 days I’m switching from bus fumes to plane fumes. I took a drive out to the Oelwein Airport to watch the crop duster planes refuel and load fungicide below the belly of the beast. But belief me these are NOT your grandpa’s “go and blow” field sprayers. These guys are higher tech and protect numerous hundred acres of Iowa’s finest cropland with GPS precision and…