Features

March 21, 1938

Some recent quotations from Puller in his Small Wars Course –

“It’s no more trouble to carry a rifle than it is a swagger stick.”

“Don’t overload with provisions. When you run out of food turn back. Two days without food won’t hurt you.”

“Get up with the leading element of your patrol. Your life is no more valuable to you than an enlisted man’s is to him.”

February 20, 1938

After the last class on Friday, I left with A. J. Stuart on my way to N.Y. It was a beautiful day. We took the skyline route to the Holland Tunnel, under the Hudson to N.Y. “Jeb” drove up Riverside Drive on his way to Boston, letting me off at about 50th St. There at seven P.M. I landed in the Big City. I took a bus to Broadway and walked down that famous street to Times Square. I was certainly not disappointed at the electric signs there. It was as light as day on the great white way. Had my first glimpse of the famous Wrigley sign.

All the talk of a contested Republican convention reminds me of my experiences at the fringe of the 1976 primary campaign. In that year, I was Chairman of the Louisville Armed Forces Committee, whose primary mission was to organize Louisville’s Annual Armed Forces Banquet, scheduled that year for May 14. As this was to be the Committee’s Fiftieth Banquet, the first having been addressed by Gen. Pershing in 1919, I thought seeking President Gerald Ford to be our guest of honor would be appropriate.

Note: Throughout this series, actual Journal entries will appear in regular type, with my explanations or amplifications in bold enclosed in brackets. My original hand-written Journal is included in the Ronald R. Van Stockum Papers in the Archives of The Filson Historical Society in Louisville.

Sept 26, 1937

Received a nice letter from Colonel Kimmel yesterday. [Head of the University of Washington ROTC unit who had been very supportive.]

When artistic inspiration hit Travis Adams, he didn’t blow off the urge.

Instead, he ran with it.

Adams, newly graduated and working in Nashville with a degree in financial economics, came back to Kentucky to pursue his lifelong dream – blowing glass. And now he is preparing for his very first show to display his creations.

Valentine’s Day is Sunday, and lovers all over the globe are gearing up in many different ways – some traditional, and some not so much.

Preparing for a perfect Valentine’s Day means something different to everyone, but a common theme in Shelbyville seems to be anything to do with food.

“I’m hoping we can go to the Bell House for dinner,” said Mary Jo Netherton. “I will plant that suggestion in my husband’s head.”

In September 1995 my son Reggie took his mother Susanne, then 80, on a trip to France, including a visit to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, near the border between France and Spain.

She had first visited the shrine with her father in 1926 when she was eleven. Susanne described her impressions:

I touched Reggie’s cheek and he touched my cheek. And there was an atmosphere of prayer, no giggling, no laughing or anything. Just a very comfortable place to be because everybody else was doing the same thing. And it was very emotional.

The Sentinel-News, since 2008, has honored at year’s end five Shelby Countians we think have had a significant impact on our community during the year. We sought your nominations on our Facebook page, and we believe each person – or team – selected for what we call Shelby County’s Fabulous 5, has in his or her own way left an imprint that merits our honoring and emulating, represents a broad spectrum of a diverse society and truly is one of the best of our best.

Sam Eyle