American Essence - Issue 6 - Preview

A me rican Es s e nc e

American Essence FO R E V E RYO N E W H O LOV E S T H I S C O U N T RY

NOVEMBER 2021 ISSUE 6 | VOLUME 1

A Secret Language Peter MacDonald Sr. on preserving the legacy of Navajo Code Talkers who helped end World War II

2

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

—MA RK T WA IN

Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior, in Minnesota.

ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

1

Burlington, Vermont.

2

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

“Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light.”

— GEORGE WASHI NGTO N

ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

3

Contents 22

Features 8 | BenShot

The Wolfgram father-son duo’s pun-fueled shot glasses, and other unique glassware designs, are made from start to finish in the United States.

10 | Volunteers to the Rescue

While big cities have full-time first responders paid with tax dollars, most suburban and rural communities rely on unpaid personnel for fire and ambulance services.

12 | Why I Love America

Bill Schmidt volunteered for river warfare in Vietnam and would still proudly defend our nation and Constitution, which he says upholds a range of freedoms like no other.

14 | American Success

Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza, went from functionally homeless to billionaire—which may never have happened had his mother not dropped him off at an orphanage.

18 | Photographing President

30 | Horse Power

Horses are seen by many as remnants of America’s past, but some people find joy, or even amazing physical and mental healing, from riding the majestic creatures.

32 | Creating Shangri-La

Greatly influenced by “Lost Horizon,” former legislator Liz Pike aimed to materialize James Hilton’s fictional paradise through the gardens she created.

Eisenhower On a summer’s day in 1955, the stars aligned for Airman Al Freni, and a candid shot launched his photography career.

36 | Service in the Time of ‘Camelot’

20 | The Culture of Romance

Peter MacDonald Sr. is among the Marines who developed a code that played a pivotal role in helping the United States win the Pacific front during World War II.

At 88, Jack Wibby still teaches ballroom dancing, hoping to fan the embers of a culture of decency and romance.

22 | Born to Run

Veterans recall serving under JFK’s administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

38 | The Navajo Code Talkers

Ultramarathoner Stan Cottrell is uniquely fit to run—bridging peoples and inspiring all he meets along the way.

42 | Fighting Suicide

26 | Honoring and Protecting Life

44 | In Their Words

Linda Znachko’s resolution is that no baby should die without a name and proper burial.

4

Beyond medicine and therapy, the veteran community’s response to suicide involves camaraderie and hiking.

Four veterans who separately served in conflicts ranging from World War II to the Gulf War tell their stories.

92

32

62

78

History 48 | Roger Sherman

Among the Founding Fathers, Roger Sherman is one of the best-kept secrets, but he’s had a lasting effect on our nation.

52 | The Revolutionary ‘Oration’

The Thanksgiving sermon of British preacher John Allen stoked the flames of a budding American Revolution.

54 | Making Waves

In 1943, Jean Prosch joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), a branch of the U.S. Naval Reserves, and went on to make history.

Arts & Letters 56 | Statue of Freedom

The iconic image on top of the Capitol building has a tale to tell about the man who oversaw its assembly in 1863.

60 | The Diva and the Composer

Giacomo Puccini and Maria Callas were alike: not in personality, but in the uncommon ability to express through music the full spectrum of the human experience.

ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

62 | A Shining City on a Lakefront

Chicago was hideous at the turn of the 19th century, but beauty rose from the chaos, and the majestic Classical buildings of the World’s Fair gave birth to a movement.

66 | Georgian Style, With Flair

An Atlanta house is crafted in 18th-century style with the help of a design firm that treasures classical architecture.

72 | The Seven Ages of Man

Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” contains one of his most famous speeches, a commentary on the nature of humanity.

A Love of Learning 76 | The NJROTC Experience

An educator looks back at the Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program that changed her life.

78 | The Man Behind the Monument

Vietnam War veteran Harvey Pratt’s work honors the contributions of 574 Native American tribes in defense of America.

84 | Wreaths Across America

Through stories and events, lessons can come alive for our children as we teach citizenship, service, and love for country.

86 | The School Stayed Open

Retired teacher Janice Abernathy recalls how her rural Pennsylvania school honored Veterans Day—not with time off, but by solemnly asking veterans to tell their stories.

Lifestyle 88 | The ‘Poison Apple’

Tomatoes were considered poisonous for nearly 200 years in America, but have since gained popularity—here’s First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s favorite tomato soup recipe.

90 | ‘Barbecue Diplomacy’

In 1939, a hot dog picnic changed our relationship with Great Britain forever; America was no longer a runaway colony, but an ally.

92 | Jim Thorpe

A wealth of history is tucked away in a charming, small Pennsylvania town named after the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States.

5

WRITTEN BY

Features | Air Force Vet

Dave Paone

Photographing Ike How a young airman came to shoot the picture that launched his photography career

O

n a summer’s day in 1955, the stars aligned for an airman second class at the Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. This was just before the days when Camp David became the official presidential retreat, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a property near the base known as the “Summer White House.”

Twenty-one-year-old Al Freni was assigned to the president as his official photographer. On August 16, he

18

and several other photographers were shooting Eisenhower (known as Ike) and his grandson, David, as they were recreating on a nearby ranch, owned by one of Ike’s friends, Aksel Neilsen.

Freni took the picture that would kick-start his career. It’s of the pair fishing at a pier, bonding as grandfathers and grandsons do. This picture would be republished in books and magazines and exhibited for decades thereafter.

Freni’s story begins in 1933, when he was the second son born to Italian

immigrant parents in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York. His birth name was Alfredo Giuseppe Freni, but several years later, an editor felt it would take up too much space in his publication and, in an Ellis Island-style move, insisted he simply go

by Al Freni.

At 10 years old, Freni purchased his first camera, a Clix Deluxe, for $1.79.

Soon after, his older cousin purchased a basic darkroom kit for Freni, and he started developing and printing his own pictures in the bathroom and what was the coal bin in his family’s house.

Completely by chance, famed Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt lived in an apartment building two blocks from the Freni household. Upon learning this, Freni scraped up a dime to purchase the latest issue, never having heard of Eisenstaedt before.

Freni attended the School of Industrial Art (now the High School of Art and Design) in Manhattan for high school, where he took four photography classes per day and was named “most probable to succeed” upon graduation in 1951.

At this point, the Korean War was on, and Freni was of draftable age. For the next two years, he worked two different jobs but decided to enlist before he was to be drafted. He joined the Air Force in 1953 with the plan of working as a photographer.

The Air Force had a different plan.

They trained him as a turret mechanic for B-47 bombers. After nine months of it, Freni had had enough and was seriously considering going AWOL. “I AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

Air Force Vet | Features

and fishing was a photo-op manufactured by the presidential press secretary at the time, James Hagerty. It was so manufactured that, according to Freni, the White House had live trout trucked in and released into the water to ensure the younger Eisenhower would catch a fish.

While the entire day was manufactured, the moment Freni captured was real. David had walked away from his grandfather, and the other half-dozen photographers there, and stood on the pier alone. Ike walked over and joined

LEFT Al Freni, with his iconic photo of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and grandson David, and the Speed Graphic camera he used to shoot the picture.

As airman first class, Al Freni is pictured after his promotion in 1955.

ABOVE

couldn’t stand what I was doing,” Freni said. A fellow airman suggested he speak with the base chaplain. Freni took that advice, and the chaplain, a colonel, pulled some strings. He offered Freni a position working for the weekly Air Force newspaper, called Airmen. Freni jumped at the offer.

The good news was Freni was the No. 2 photographer of a two-man photo department. The bad news was that meant he had to shoot the less-glamorous and more difficult assignments, including climbing up a ladder to the roof of a hangar to photograph the president’s plane upon arrival.

“Then the magical thing happened,” said Freni. “The photographer that was assigned to cover the president in 1954 got his orders. They shipped him out.

I graduated to base photographer.”

That meant whenever Eisenhower vacationed at the Summer White House, Freni was the official photographer.

“Here I am, not even 22 years old,” said Freni, “and I was assigned to be the presidential photographer.”

The day of golfing, horseback riding, ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

Freni’s photograph is at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas, and at the Eisenhower Historical Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. him. Freni saw this unfolding but was the only photographer to act. “I saw a picture,” Freni said. He then shot the photo that would bring him his most recognition.

All of Freni’s photographs taken while in the Air Force were shot on a Speed Graphic camera, which he purchased in 1949. It was the camera photojournalists had used for decades. It was big, heavy, cumbersome, and took one sheet of film at a time, so photographers spent a lot of time inserting and removing the frames that held the film. If a flash was needed, individual flashbulbs were inserted before and ejected after each use.

The fishing photo ran on the front page of Airmen, as well as the Rocky Mountain News, a Denver daily newspaper. Eisenhower loved it so much that

he requested 40 prints. It took Freni three days, but he made 43 11-by-14-inch prints in the darkroom by hand.

An appointment was set up for Freni and the public information officer, a major, to meet in the president’s office, where Eisenhower would sign one of the prints for Freni to keep. Freni got a haircut, shined his shoes, and put on clean fatigues. When they walked into the room, Eisenhower said, “Come in, sergeant,” and the major’s face turned white.

Freni believes this was the commander-in-chief’s subtle way of saying to the major, “Promote this guy.”

Whether it was intentional or not, the major did, indeed, promote Freni soon afterward.

Ike wrote, “For Alfred Freni, with best wishes, Dwight Eisenhower.”

Thirty-nine years later, the grandson, David, signed the photo, writing, “For Al Freni, who took my favorite picture.”

Freni’s photograph is at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas, and at the Eisenhower Historical Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It’s been published in one of the titles in the Time-Life series, “The Fabulous Century,” as well as many other books and magazines.

Freni has had a long career as a professional photographer in New York.

For many years, he had a combination studio-office-darkroom in the TimeLife Building, seeing Eisenstaedt regularly. As a true New Yorker, he never left his Queens neighborhood and now lives in the building where Eisenstaedt lived.

But it’s the fishing picture that Freni remembers most fondly.

He often states how “one two-hundredth of a second” can change a person’s life. That one two-hundredth of a second certainly changed his.

Dave Paone is a Long Island-based reporter and photographer who has won journalism awards for articles, photographs, and headlines. When he’s not writing and photographing, he’s catering to every demand of his cat, Gigi. • 19

Born to

Run

Ultramarathoner Stan Cottrell is uniquely fit to run—bridging peoples and inspiring all he meets along the way. At age 78, he celebrated his birthday with a 100-day, cross-country run

22

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

WRITTEN BY

Sallie Boyles

PHOTOGRAPHED BY

Noelle Monferdini

People | Features

S

tan Cottrell is not the first athlete to say, The notion that the correspondence had merit “I’ve prepared for this moment my entire seemed “absurd” to Cottrell, but his professor life.” A lifelong ultramarathoner, he has friend believed the Chinese were testing his comexperienced that moment numerous times, mitment. Accepting the challenge, Cottrell nudged most recently on August 14, 2021, when he them with daily telexes. completed a 3,000-mile run, from Los Angeles Continuing his exploits, he set a Guinness to Washington, D.C., in 100 consecutive days.

World Record in 1980 for an east-to-west, 3,103.5Running 30 miles each day, Cottrell began on mile, trans-U.S. run from New York to San May 8, his 78th birthday.

Francisco. Gaining fame, he met celebrities and Cottrell has run through 40 different countries, VIPs, like Ruth and Billy Graham, who became logging over 270,000 miles—the equivalent of cirgood friends and opened doors. cling the globe about 12 times. His feats include “Five years to the day,” Cottrell says, “I was told a 3,500-mile-run through Europe for 80 days in to be in China in two weeks to start the friendship 1982. Two years later, when Western visitors were run. Curious about the Chinese, he added: “At forbidden there, Cottrell embarked on a sancfirst, I was a stranger in a strange land. Quickly, all tioned, 2,125-mile friendship run from the Great of that dissipated. Growing up in rural Kentucky Wall of China to Guangzhou. served me well in identifying with those in China Now totaling 81 trips to China, Cottrell divulges who were known as the peasants. I felt a wonthat the first, rare opportunity materialized from derful, kindred spirit with them. It soon became a wisecrack made during very evident to a party in 1979. He had me—and it aston“There’s never an unimportant ished recently run 167 miles in me—that day in your life.”

24 hours around a high we had so much school track in Atlanta, in common.”

—STA N C OT T RELL prompting a fellow runKnown for ner to ask, “What’s next?” running in the Before he could answer, another person shouted, spirit of friendship, Cottrell has received Nobel “Knowing Stan, he’ll be doing something crazy.

Peace Prize nominations from 40 countries. He He’ll be running the Great Wall of China!” says: “Someone once told me, ‘The impact of the Someone mistook this conjecture as news and running you do has reached more than a billion tipped off a local reporter. The following day, people.’ Running was merely the vehicle to meet Cottrell says that “in the People section of The people. It was always about relationships and Atlanta Constitution, the headline read: ‘Cottrell’s building friendships. People fear what they don’t Next Feat to Run Great Wall of China.’ Next thing understand, and running helps break down those I know, Emory University called me to talk to their barriers.” classes about foreign relations.”

Coming from Munfordville, Kentucky, once Both amused and inspired, Cottrell obtained the deemed the poorest region in the nation, Cottrell address from a Georgia State University professor is not one to “put on airs,” not even with interand friend, and sent a letter to Deng Xiaoping, national heads of state. As for his running ability, then the leader of the People’s Republic of China.

Cottrell always knew it was a gift from God that he Introducing himself as a record-setting, long-diswas meant to use. “God designed me uniquely,” he tance runner, he wrote, “I humbly ask your peraffirms. mission to run the Great Wall of China. I think this Lean and compact like his mother, Cottrell run can go a long way in promoting the spirit of explains, “Momma was as fast as greased lightfriendship between our two nations.” ning.” In contrast, his 6-foot-4-inch father was “as Three weeks later, Stan says, “I got a funny-look- strong as an ox.” Examined by curious doctors and ing letter with hieroglyphics all over that said, scientists from institutions like the University of ‘We will communicate. We want to develop these California-Davis and Cleveland Clinic, Cottrell thoughts.’” has learned that his musculoskeletal structure is

ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

23

Features | War Stories

WRITTEN BY

Dave Paone & Joni Williams

In Their Words

Veterans Who Served in War Tell Their Stories

World War II

Editor’s note: Stanley Feltman passed away on September 23, shortly before this issue went to press.

In 1945, at age 19, Stanley Feltman was a tail gunner in a B-29 for the U.S. Army Air Corps. He had flown about 15 successful bombing missions in the South Pacific, but come mission number 16, he wasn’t so lucky.

His plane, containing 11 crew members, was shot down by a Zero fighter aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

All 11 men were able to escape the wreckage by inflating a dinghy and paddling away from the aircraft before it sank minutes later.

The dinghy was designed for six.

That meant six were able to sit inside but five, including Feltman, had to hang onto a rope that ran around the perimeter, with their bodies waistdeep in the water.

And then there were sharks. They had some repellent on hand, but it dissipated after time. At one point, another airman who was hanging on lost his grip and slipped into the shark-infested water. Feltman dived after him and brought him back to the surface. This act of bravery would earn Feltman the Bronze Star.

Several hours later, a submarine spotted them. However, its crew was on a mission elsewhere and could not take them aboard. The submarine’s crew wired their coordinates to an aircraft carrier, which sent a PBY seaplane to pick up the stranded airmen after a total of about eight hours in the water.

44

When the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941, Feltman was only 15 and couldn’t enlist, although he wanted to. However, Americans could enlist at 17 with parental consent, which was his plan. Upon his 17th birthday, he told his parents of his intention to volunteer.

Eventually, Feltman found himself in the tail of a B-29 in the South Pacific. His job was to fire at oncoming enemy planes.

Often, these were flown by Kamikaze pilots, who would purposely crash their explosives-laden planes into American aircraft carriers.

Feltman recalled his first encounter

with the enemy. “I remember somebody saying, ‘There’s planes coming in at six o’clock,’” he said. “I sighted on a plane that I saw coming in. I didn’t know if it was the same plane that they saw because usually they had five, six planes at one time come at you. I fired, I saw the plane blow up, so I figured it has to be a Kamikaze plane. It just exploded.”

Feltman was only 18 at the time and the youngest member of the crew. After he hit his target, he shouted, “I got him!

I got him! I got him!”

Today, at 95, when Feltman thinks about those battles he’s not so enthusiastic. He’s certain he shot down eight AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

At 88, Scarlato is still sharp as a tack and keeps up with the news, including about current U.S.– North Korea relations.

Japanese pilots and thinks there may have been two more.

“I never felt right by taking a life,” he said. “When you’re shooting planes down, you’re taking a life. That’s all.

There’s nothing big about that.”

me in the helmet. He said, ‘You better start firing that weapon.’

“A couple of minutes later, he got hit in the belly. He fell right on top of me.

And when the corpsman came, he said, ‘Give me your hand.’” Scarlato applied pressure to the squad leader’s liver, Korean War which was protruding from his body.

On June 25, 1950, North Korean solRight then and there, he died. diers crossed the 38th parallel and the “I cried like a baby,” said Scarlato.

Korean War began.

“After this, I was very bitter. I kept saySal Scarlato was 17 at the time. He ing to myself, ‘What the hell am I doing had known of a few boys from his here?’ And my officers always said, Brooklyn neighborhood who were ‘You’ll find out. You’ll find out eventukilled in combat early on. This didn’t ally what you’re doing here.’” stop him and his pals from enlisting in Scarlato witnessed countless casualthe Marines after they turned 18. ties and then in July 1952, became one.

Private first class Scarlato landed at Once again, Scarlato’s unit came under Incheon on April 10, 1952. He was 19 attack by the CCF. An enemy combatand in the infantry. ant tossed a grenade at him and two “All of a sudden, we got hit with other Marines. It exploded, killing one small-arm fire and mortar fire,” said of them and wounding the other two.

Scarlato. “We were firing like crazy.

Scarlato suffered leg, neck, and hand I had the runs, I urinated, I was crying. wounds and a concussion.

A couple of guys got hit.”

A corpsman gave him a shot of morOne night, Scarlato had outpost duty phine and sent him via jeep to an aid along the 38th parallel. “That night the station. From there, he was flown via CCF [Chinese Communist Forces] really chopper to a hospital ship. He thought gave us a welcome,” he said. “When this was his ticket home, but the they came, I didn’t fire my weapon right Marines still needed him. Being sent away. I froze. So the guy next to me— back to his unit made Scarlato bitter. actually he was my squad leader—hit “I hated everybody,” he said, even his ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

South Korean allies. Scarlato once spat on a soldier when he came close.

Scarlato soon discovered that the officers were correct and he did indeed find out why he was there. On patrol one day, Scarlato’s unit came upon a small village where several civilians had been killed.

“There was a little boy, maybe five, six years old... he had his hand blown off.”

Scarlato (left) with a South Korean counterpart.

ABOVE

45

Features | War Stories

Scarlato immediately picked the boy up and put his severed hand in his pocket. He bandaged the end of the boy’s arm and a corpsman arrived. The child screamed in pain the entire time.

They flagged down a medical jeep and drove to a nearby orphanage which had medical staff.

The nurses placed the boy on a table.

Scarlato and the corpsman turned and walked out, having done all they could. Scarlato remembered he still had the child’s hand in his pocket. He stepped back inside, only to find the boy had died.

This was the defining moment. Out of all the death and carnage Scarlato saw, this was the worst. Now, he knew the reason he was there was “to save these people’s lives. Before that, I didn’t understand.”

At 88, Scarlato is still sharp as a tack and keeps up with the news, including about current U.S.–North Korea relations. He’s a member of the Korean War Veterans Association and regularly raises money for Korean War monuments.

Vietnam War

It was late 1972 and as the holiday season approached, Col. Robert Certain, an Air Force B-52 navigator, was preparing to return stateside from war-torn Vietnam. But just days before his departure date, this much-anticipated plan was abruptly changed. Instead of returning home, Col. Certain was now assigned to a large-scale flying mission—one that would radically change his life.

As a navigator, Col. Certain explained that his job was to not only “get to the target on time” but also ensure the task was accomplished in an equally prompt and precise manner. The logistics were critically important for this mission, he said, because he and his crew would be flying toward Hanoi, deep into what was then known as enemy territory. Even so, the newly assigned mission initially got off to a good start and seemed to go according to plan.

And then, it didn’t.

When Col. Certain and his crew had almost reached their target, the plane suddenly sputtered into a free fall. They’d been hit. With no time to 46

waste, Col. Certain knew there was only one way to survive the doomed flight: eject into enemy territory. And so, Col. Certain explained, he wasn’t surprised when he was captured, along with another member of the crew. “We were just a few miles north of Hanoi,” Col. Certain said of their precarious landing site, estimating it was within 10 or 20 kilometers of their original target.

He would eventually end up in the infamous prison sarcastically dubbed

by Americans at that time as the “Hanoi Hilton.” But first, he was forced to endure hours of relentless interrogation.

Then, he and his fellow captive crew mate were paraded in front of cameras at an international presser. Though the North Vietnamese may have been “showing off” their catch of the day, Col. Certain believes this exposure protected him and other new captures from the type of well-reported, horrendous conditions earlier prisoners were subjected to. After about 10 days, his tiny shared cell was upgraded to a much larger one, and the prisoners were eventually allowed to gather together on Sundays for a service of sorts.

If the watchful eye of the media played a part in the type of treatment Col. Certain and other newer captives received as a prisoner, undoubtedly so did the actions of the American government. At that time, the United States was in dedicated negotiations to end its involvement in the war. After the signing of the Paris Peace Accords made it official, Col. Certain once again began planning for his return home. This time, his plans were undeterred and Col. Certain was set free on March 29, 1973.

But this isn’t where the story ends.

Col. Certain, who was 25 when he was captured, returned to the United States and hit the ground running, but on a much different path. In 1976, Col. Certain became Father Certain, an ordained Episcopalian priest. He went on to earn his Doctor of Ministry degree in 1999 and as a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves, served as chaplain for a number of U.S. bases, including what is now Andrews Joint Base. When former President Gerald Ford passed away in 2006, it was Col. Certain who presided over his graveside services.

Col. Robert Certain with his wife, Robbie.

ABOVE

Col. Certain retired from active duty service in 1977, but went on to serve in the Reserves until 1999. His exemplary service earned him a number of prestigious honors, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Distinguished Flying Cross medals, to name just a few.

He has also served as a CEO, director, or board member for numerous organizations and governmental committees such as the Defense Health Board and the Pentagon Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide by Members of the Armed Services. Notably, he remains active as a board member of the Distinguished Flying Cross Society, comprised of medal recipients. Over the years, his 2003 autobiography, “Unchained Eagle,” has accumulated a prestigious—and rare—five-star average rating on Amazon.

Yet, despite his many successes, Col. Certain admits to one failure. “I’ve tried to retire,” he said with humor in his voice, “but I’ve been a failure at it.”

Officially, though, Col Certain is indeed now classified by the military as retired and lives with his wife of many years, Robbie, in Texas.

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

War Stories | Features

Gulf War

It was February 1991 and U.S.A.F. pilot Lt. Col. Robert Sweet was on his 30th mission in Desert Storm. The goal, simply put, was to eliminate enemy targets.

However, his arrival at the targeted area was met with such heavy fire, he was ordered to leave because, as he explained in a press statement later, “If the target area is too hot, you have to leave. It’s not time to be a hero.”

As he and his lead flight Capt.

Stephen Phillis made their way out of the area, he caught sight of what he described as a “pristine array of (enemy) tanks that had not been hit.”

He found this downright shocking, he said, “because by that point, everything ABOVE Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Sweet (center had been bombed for the past 30 days.” right) with his family after he took his final After Lt. Col. Sweet began to attack the flight on June 5 this year, at the Moody Air Force Base in Ga. tanks, an exchange of fire erupted and the A-10 Thunderbolt he was piloting was hit from behind.

He attempted to keep the damaged time as a prisoner. “The SERE [Survival plane in the air, but quickly realized it Evasion Resistance and Escape] we tary, that often includes assignments to was not salvageable and in order to sur- have is outstanding,” he said of the U.S. undesirable locales. “Make the most of vive, he would have to eject into enemy military’s training. “There were very them,” he said, “and move on.” territory. “I tried a couple of things few surprises in the jailhouse,“ he said.

And that’s exactly what Sweet himand basically it wasn’t going to work, “I knew what to expect.” self has done. After spending 20 years so I punched out,” Lt. Col. Sweet said, And though his expectation included on active duty and 13 more as a reservexplaining how he landed face-to-face casualties, Sweet still found himself ist, Sweet retired in June this year, with more than a dozen irate Iraqi solreeling after learning Phillis had been making him America’s last POW to be diers, southwest of Basra, Iraq. He was killed in action. “I had survivor’s guilt actively serving in the Air Force. After captured and held prisoner for 19 days and it took me a long time to get over this acknowledgement and congratulaunder brutal conditions, including beat- that,” he said. tions at his retirement ceremony, Gen. ings, starvation and exposure to disease.

Sweet spent 19 days in captivity, Charles Q. Brown captured the sentiIt was clear, he said, that he now had before being released as part of a prisment of the nation when he said simply, to fight to keep himself both physically oner exchange. But it wasn’t without “We thank you for all you’ve done.” and emotionally strong. But it was also some long-term aftereffects. Most notaclear, he said, that the military had bly, he realized the importance of mak- Dave Paone is a Long Island-based prepared him well beforehand for this ing good decisions under pressure and reporter-photographer who has type of situation. “There were very few taking life as it comes. “Bloom where won journalism awards for articles, surprises,” Lt. Col. Sweet said of his you’re planted,” he advised. In the mili- photographs, and headlines. When he’s not writing and photographing, he’s catering to every demand of his cat, Gigi.

After spending 20 years on active duty and 13 more as a reservist, Sweet retired in June this year, making him America’s last POW to be actively serving in the Air Force.

ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

Joni Williams started her career as a real estate reporter. Magazine writing soon followed and with it, regular gigs as a restaurant and libations reviewer. Since then, her work has appeared in a number of publications throughout the Gulf Coast and beyond. • 47

History | Short Stories

LINCOLN’S CHARACTER ON DISPLAY Surveyor Lincoln

I

A Firm Signature

O

n January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was brought to President Abraham Lincoln for his signature. The president picked up his pen, dipped it in ink, held it over the proclamation, and dropped his pen—twice.

Then he got up and turned to Secretary of State William H. Seward to explain: “I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning, and my right arm is almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it,” he said, explaining the nerves that prevented him from smoothly signing the document.

But, “If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation,” he continued, explaining why he dropped the pen, “all who examine the document hereafter will say, ‘He hesitated.’” After the pause, he turned back to the document, and signed it slowly with a firm hand. He looked up, smiled, and said: “That will do.”

—ADAPTED F ROM “S I X M O N T H S AT THE WHI TE HOUSE W I TH ABRAHAM L I NCOL N”

50

n 1833, a 23-year-old Abraham Lincoln was offered and accepted a job as a surveyor in Sangamon County, Illinois.

The first order of things was to procure a compass and chain, and then he dove headlong into instruction books, studying “Gibson’s Theory and Practice of Surveying” and “Flint’s Treatise on Geometry, Trigonometry and Rectangular Surveying.” Armed with decimal fractions and logarithms, Lincoln drew up the boundary lines for the farms, roads, and other properties of five towns. He became known for his care and accuracy, and his ability to mediate property disputes.

But one story illustrates his kindness. Some decades after Lincoln had platted the town of Petersburg, Illinois, a dispute about property boundaries went to court and an

Inspiring the VA

T

he Department of Veterans Affairs, now a cabinet-level department of the federal government, was formed from the Veterans Administration, which itself in 1930 consolidated a number of programs benefitting the men (and later, women) who honorably served the country.

On March 3, 1865, shortly before the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a law to establish a national soldiers and sailors asylum, the first-ever government institution created specifically for honorably discharged volunteer

old Irishman named McGuire who had been in town that long-ago summer happened to return and shed some light on the matter: “I can tell you all about it. I helped carry the chain when Abe Lincoln laid out this town. Over there where they are quarreling about the lines, when he was locating the street, he straightened up from his instrument and said: ‘If I run that street right through, it will cut three or four feet off the end of ——‘s house. It’s all he’s got in the world and he never could get another. I reckon it won’t hurt anything out here if I skew the line a little and miss him.’” It turned out Lincoln’s skewing of the line had caused the trouble, but the story spoke of his unwillingness to harm another.

—A DA P T ED FRO M “A BE LINC O LN’S YA RN S A N D STO R IE S”

BY A LEXA NDER K. Mc C LURE ( 1901 )

soldiers. It was the forerunner of the modern VA hospital system.

These words of President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address continue to inspire VA employees today: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

51

Thomas Moran’s watercolor rendering of the Administration Building and the reflecting pool in Chicago.

62

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

Architecture | Arts & Letters

WRITTEN BY

Bob Kirchman

A Shining City on a Lakefront

T

ruesdale Marshall, in Henry Blake Fuller’s novel, “With the Procession,” had this to say about Chicago: A “hideous monster, a piteous, floundering monster too.

It almost called for tears. Nowhere a more tireless activity, yet nowhere a result so pitifully grotesque, gruesome, appalling.” This was the assessment of the great city that had risen so rapidly in the plains of America’s Midwest. The young nation had barely survived its civil war just decades before. Chicago was still recovering from its great fire. Railroads rushed to cross and crisscross the fruited plain, building quickly. There was no time for building beautiful arched bridges. Wooden trestles were thrown up in a matter of weeks. Track was measured in miles laid per day. “Hell on Wheels” was the order of the day. Midwestern cities were ugly, smelly, and chaotic.

But then, in the summer of 1893, a gleaming city appeared on the shores of Lake Michigan, something that didn’t seem to belong to this boisterous time. It only stood for a brief season, but it would change the course of a nation’s development. Massive Classical buildings rose majestically above a series of great lagoons. Beauty rose from the chaos of unbridled growth ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

as a swamp along the shore of Lake Michigan became the site of the World’s Columbian Exposition—the Chicago World’s Fair.

It was inspired by the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in Paris and was conceived to honor the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America.

Chicago had beat out established cities like New York and now set to work to build a great international fair in the heartland of America. Daniel Hudson Burnham, of Burnham and Root, was selected as Director of Works for the fair. He was an accomplished architect and urban planner and a strong advocate of the Beaux-Arts movement. He would go on to design the magnificent Union Station of Washington, D.C. Now, he had a fair to create.

Enlisting some of the finest minds in architecture, Burnham struggled to create a unique site for his fair. Frederick Law Olmsted, the great landscape designer, envisioned a series of lagoons and canals, creating a modern-day Venice. The signature building of the fair, the Administration Building, was awarded to Richard Morris Hunt, a fine Beaux-Arts architect who had designed the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.

Hunt had done numerous commissions for the Vanderbilt family, including working with Frederick Law Olmsted to

create Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in America.

Hunt’s rendered elevation for the Administration Building is a beautiful watercolor in the finest Beaux-Arts manner, rich in layers of Classical detail. Burnham, Hunt, and Olmsted clearly laid forth a vision for something timeless, a vision of what a city should be, but time was of the essence. An entire city would have to be built in less than two years. It would already open a year late for the 400th anniversary celebration. It was also temporary. The fair would only operate for six months and then be torn down, so the builders did not use carved stone at all. Instead, they built an enormous stage set! The large buildings of the Court of Honor were hastily built on steel and wood

The resurgence of Classicism would inspire many important civic buildings and institutions, issuing in a new wave of American architecture.

63

Lifestyle | Charming Towns

96

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE

skills to build canal boats. Over time, he believed there was a better way to transport the coal. He risked financial ruin when he purchased nearly all the controlling stock for an unfinished railroad.

Later, the line became the prosperous Lehigh Valley Railroad.

A philanthropist, he founded Lehigh University, donated millions of dollars, and left an estate valued over $54 million. Today, visitors can tour the family’s elegant three-story, 18-room Italianate villa, complete with original contents.

Approaching the mansion, visitors pass Gothic window arches and gingerbread trefoil motifs trimming the verandah. Inside, guests are treated to fine woodcarvings by European artisans and glistening stained-glass windows. Designated a National Historic Landmark, the mansion sits on a hill overlooking a picturesque view of Jim Thorpe.

Nearby is the former home of Asa’s son, Harry Packer. The mansion is currently a historic luxury inn decorated in the elegance of the Victorian era.

Surprisingly, it has a most unusual claim to fame.

The exterior of the home was the inspiration for Walt Disney World’s “Haunted Mansion.”

Secret Society On another hill in Jim Thorpe is a supernatural mystery. The story reads like fiction but is true.

It begins in the coal mines. The same coal mines that brought great wealth to the region also brought hardship and danger. Conditions in the mines were terrible. Boys as young as 6 years old worked picking slate. Families lived in poor comremain as proof of my innocence.” Despite washpany-owned homes. They were paid in company ing, painting, and replastering, the handprint has money, which was worthless except in company remained to this day. stores. Foremen frequently abused workers.

A secret organization retaliated against the coal Plenty to Do and railroad companies. Between 1861 and 1875, Today, Jim Thorpe is a charming small town. Many there were arsons, violent assaults, and murders of the Victorian buildings have been renovated blamed on the secretive Irish-American group and turned into shops, eateries, museums, and galknown as the Molly Maguires. A Pinkerton detec- leries. Adventurers enjoy the walkable downtown, tive infiltrated the group, befriended the members, biking and hiking through scenic Lehigh Gorge, or and then betrayed them. Seven Irish coal miners whitewater rafting. proclaimed their innocence but were hanged in Theater lovers attend live performances at the Old Jail. But that was not the end of this story. the historic Mauch Chunk Opera House, one of Before his hanging, one miner placed his dirty America’s oldest vaudeville theaters. hand on the wall, saying, “This handprint will Delightful events lure visitors year-round.

There’s a Running Festival with 7-mile, half-marathon, and full marathon options. Winterfest brings Beyond the famous horse-drawn carriage rides, ice carvings, and a luminary stroll, while autumn brings the Fall namesake, the town of Jim Foliage Festival, featuring arts, crafts, children’s Thorpe has a wealth of activities, and ghost tours. It’s the perfect time to enter the Old Jail Museum and see the mysterious history. It also has a history handprint. of wealth.

Afterward, visit the Molly Maguires Pub & ISSU E 6 | N OVE M BER 2 0 2 1

FAR LEFT This town was founded by a coal company to transport coal, bringing to the area an engineering feat of its time: a gravity-powered railway. By 1873, the rail was converted to passenger use and became a tourist attraction that drew the likes of President Ulysses Grant and Thomas Edison.

97

A magazine for anyone who loves America— and the values we stand for.

American Essence focuses on traditional American values and great American stories. It recounts significant historical events, from the time of the Founding Fathers, through to the average Americans today who want to give back to their community and country. American Essence celebrates America’s contribution to humanity.

Subscribe Today Go to:

AmericanEssence.net or use the subscription form inside.

For Gift Subscriptions Please visit: AmericanEssence.net/gift

4

AMERI CAN ESSE NCE