MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

Regional history

Memorial Day: Bonnie Brodie Hassebroek

Bob Collins May 23, 2009, 9:13 AM May 23, 2009

A native of rural western Iowa, she was ready to see the world at 18. Much to her disappointment, she was stationed at Fort Des Moines in Iowa.

Regional history

Memorial Day: Joseph Moffitt

Bob Collins May 23, 2009, 12:47 AM May 23, 2009

He and his crew were shot down during a raid on Steyr, Austria on April 2,1944.

Regional history

Memorial Day: PTSD

Bob Collins May 22, 2009, 9:41 PM May 22, 2009

PTSD is a terrible, awful mental illness which this vet hid successfully for many years.

Regional history

Memorial Day: Glenn Knoblauch

Bob Collins May 22, 2009, 4:51 PM May 22, 2009

There was another side to Holly Cairns’ grandfather that she never knew.

Regional history

Alice Rainville, 1928-2009

Bob Collins March 5, 2009, 5:01 PM Mar 5, 2009

A 1998 interview with the first woman to head the Minneapolis City Council.

Regional history · War

History or legend?

Bob Collins February 12, 2009, 12:17 PM Feb 12, 2009

Why is the mass execution of Dakota not mentioned much in discussions about Abraham Lincoln?

Regional history

Local Holocaust survivor’s story could be a movie

Bob Collins February 9, 2009, 1:11 PM Feb 9, 2009

A chance meeting in the Virgin Islands for a man from Little Canada.

Regional history

Harvesting memories

Bob Collins November 12, 2008, 10:16 AM Nov 12, 2008

A harmonica group is honoring its vets.

Regional history

Vets

Bob Collins November 11, 2008, 3:03 PM Nov 11, 2008

Aside from the usual gripping account of war, many vets see little in their service that’s newsworthy.

Regional history

Tales from the ‘Greatest Generation’

Bob Collins November 9, 2008, 10:17 AM Nov 9, 2008

More than 60 years after World War II, there are still gripping accounts to be heard.

Regional history

Revisiting the Wellstone memorial service

Bob Collins October 24, 2008, 1:25 PM Oct 24, 2008

The memorial service changed the outcome of an election.

Regional history

Reading suggestion: Small-town America from the front porch

Bob Collins October 9, 2008, 8:33 AM Oct 9, 2008

‘Sunday Afternoon on the Porch: Reflections of a Small Town in Iowa, 1939-1942’ has been released by the University of Iowa Press.

Regional history

The women of WWII: Mary Baruth

Bob Collins May 2, 2008, 11:38 AM May 2, 2008

The final installment of News Cut’s series on women who served.

Regional history

In Chuck Doyle’s words

Bob Collins May 2, 2008, 7:21 AM May 2, 2008

One of the more colorful people in Minnesota’s history has some final, permanent words.

Regional history

The Women of World War II: Two Harbors’ vets

Bob Collins April 30, 2008, 6:33 PM Apr 30, 2008

Part two of a series.