Bob Greene, the author of Once Upon a Town: the Miracle of the North Platte Canteen and other nonfiction books, really knows something about human roots, especially if they grew in small town America’s soil.
A couple weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal carried a post by Greene called A Modest Presidential Event, by Contrast.” Greene passed over recent media-driven Presidential events to consider a small, low-key gathering in Abilene, Kansas.
That annual event remembers Dwight Eisenhower, a local boy who grew up to be the leader of the Allied Expeditionary Force in World War 2, master of the D-Day invasion, and the 34th President of the United States.
Greene writes, “Back home in ‘45, he told the townspeople who had gathered to greet him: ‘The proudest thing I can claim is that I am from Abilene.’”
Greene summarizes the story: “It can happen. A little boy can walk out of a house on Fourth Street in the middle of small-town Kansas, and he can end up leading armies that will save the free world from tyranny. It can really happen.”
This WSJ piece highlights why we do the SEEN & HEARD section here at The Timberline Letter. We didn’t originate them, but we don’t want our readers to miss them. I hope you will take time to read “A Modest Presidential Event, by Contrast.”
We thank Chip Watkins, friend and subscriber, for alerting us to this fine piece.
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