Sixty-Seven Years Ago Today

There was once a local woman who was very ill with tuberculosis. At that time, most individuals with this disease were hospitalized in regional hospitals built for that exclusive set of patients. She had read almost all the books in the sanatorium's library and was down to the dregs. The patient picked up a book entitled How to be an Army Wife and began to read. The title page on which the copyright date would have been printed had long been torn from the copy, but the woman realized the book was hardly a recent work. As she neared the end, she discovered the last chapter listed various bases at which an army wife could expect to be posted. One inclusion was a remote, but beautiful base that very few had ever heard of--Pearl Harbor. The patient then knew the book had been written before the end of 1941.

Here in the Shoals, a public safety officer at the Tennessee Valley Authority was enjoying a quiet Sunday when he was handed a gun and told to block all traffic attempting to cross Wilson Dam. His questions went unanswered, so he just did his duty, noting how little traffic actually did try to cross the dam. He assumed there had been a bomb threat, and only learned that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor after being relieved of his post several hours later.

There are only a handful of survivors left. Those who fought in WWII are dying at a rate of one thousand a day. If you know a WWII veteran, thank him. It's the least you can do.


What's up with this: The local municipal courts should expect State financial auditors within the next few weeks. It won't be pleasant for some.