Bob Collins
Every two years, the graves and names on a nearby cemetery wall are decorated with photos; 74 Minnesotans have no accompanying photograph. Dutch and American volunteers are trying to find images in time for this year’s tribute. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
War
The Lexington became the first aircraft carrier the U.S. ever lost at sea. When she went down in the Battle of the Coral Sea, that was the last anyone saw of Lady Lex. Until Sunday. Read more →
You’ll not read a more incredible journey in an obituary than the one told in the Chicago Sun-Times today about Margot Schlesinger, one of the last living people on Schindler’s list. Read more →
When I first passed along the story of Douglas Ward, of Mondovi, Wis., in 2014, I noted that this is the kind of picture I could look at for hours.
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What was left of a Douglas DC-47 was discovered in Wisconsin in 2015. It wasn’t just an old plane, though. It was “That’s All, Brother!”, the plane that led the D-Day invasion.
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LeRoy Luitjens and Helmer Haakenson had a bittersweet sip or two as the last two members of Luverne’s Last Man Club opened a ceremonial bottle of bourbon.
Mr. Luitjens died on Sunday. Read more →
It is much more difficult now for television — any news outlet, really — to awaken a conscience than it was in 1984. Read more →
Eliahu Pietruszka, 102, thought he was the only member of his family still alive. He thought the rest had perished in the Nazi extermination camps. He found out recently, however, that his brother had lived, and had a son. Read more →
Luverne’s famed bottle of bourbon is no more. Neither is the famed Glen’s Coffee Clique Last Man Club. The last two living members — World War II veterans — opened the bottle and toasted their dead friends, the Globe of Worthington says. Read more →
World War II veteran Harold Zilmer of, Minot, N.D., was walking around the World War II memorial in Washington this week. He was on an Honor Flight, which flies veterans to the memorial and back on the same day.
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America has had so many wars that we don’t know what to call them anymore. Is it Gulf War I an Gulf War II? Or do we just refer to them now as the Gulf War, and Afghanistan, and Iraq? Read more →
It’s time for the Last Man Club of Luverne, Minn., to drink up. Warren Herreid, one of its most noteworthy members, died yesterday. He was 96.
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When you hear Gary Rose tell his story, you wonder what took the U.S. so long. Read more →
Do we ever tire of seeing videos when World War II and other veterans arrive in Washington on Honor Flights?
Of course not.
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In publicity interviews before the series, Ken Burns seemed to suggest that the nation remains conflicted over whether the Vietnam war, which took the lives of 58,000 Americans, was worth it. The first episode last week seemed to promise to deliver an answer to that question.
It didn’t.
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