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Record The Putnam County
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Putnam County’s Only Newspaper
Volume 145 No. 37
“PRSRT STD.” US Postage Paid No. 486 SHAW MEDIA POSTAL PATRON LOCAL R.R. BOXHOLDER CARRIER ROUTE PRESORT
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Weighing the impact of April flooding By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN – Damage estimates for county roads due to April flooding are not available yet, according to Putnam County Highway Supervisor Edward Andrews. Andrews told the Putnam County
Board at its May 13 meeting the worst of the damage has been cleaned up, but there’s still more to go. During the worst of the flooding, he and his crew did an estimated $3,500 worth of emergency repairs. Although final figures aren’t ready, Andrews confirmed the
area around Magnolia was hardest hit. Andrews also reported on the traffic count recently completed at the intersection of Route 89 and the bottom road along the Illinois River. As he had suggested earlier, the intersection warrants the construction of a
right turn lane due to the amount of traffic using the bottom road. Andrews is seeking a formal meeting with the Illinois Department of Transportation to discuss the situation. The bottom road itself was also on the agenda. With the upcoming replacement of the
Route 89 bridge, the road is expected to gain even more traffic, and the bridge there is not in the best condition. “The bridge there is practically the most in need of our assistance. It’s on the top of our list,” Andrews said. Andrews is hoping IDOT can help finance
work on the bridge. Andrews has also been inspecting all of the bridges that were impacted by the flooding to check for any structural damage. His findings have been sent to IDOT for consideration.
See Flooding Page 2
Memorial Day: Looking back at Vietnam By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord
Specialist Four John E. Lawler Jr. of McNabb stepped onto the ground of South Vietnam on Oct. 7, 1966. He had just celebrated his 22nd birthday a little more than a month ago and was preparing to spend a tour of duty in the combat zone as an infantryman in C Company, First Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, a support-command unit. Barely more than nine weeks later, on Dec. 11 1966, Lawler died in Binh Duong Province in South Vietnam, a victim of hostile small arms fire. He was one of more than 58,000 U.S. troops who would die in the Vietnam War. While stories from soldiers at war are rarely filled with fun, tales told by Vietnam veterans are almost universally horrific. Not only was there the threat of attack from North Vietnamese forces, but also guerrilla warfare with the Viet Cong, South Vietnamese who allied with the Communist-backed northern regime. Clearly Lawler was a casualty of war, but other Vietnam soldiers from Putnam County live every day of their lives with the memories that have yet to fade. Cliff Anderson of Granville joined the Marines when he was 17 and found himself in Vietnam shortly after completing training. He was a Forest Reconnaissance Marine in the First Marine Division. Forest recon marines engaged in two types of missions: Green ops and black ops. “Green ops were when you did special missions to go out and find (the enemy),” Anderson said. “Black ops, you were sent out to get somebody. Movies of these show black ops like men with guns blazing, but it wasn’t like that. We had to be quiet.” Anderson served in Southeast Asia from 1967 to 1970, undertaking missions in Vietnam as well as Laos and Cambodia. While he and his fellow troops shared a camaraderie, there are parts of the war that he doesn’t like to talk about. “When you’re in a bad war, you’re forced to do bad things. When you’re raised as a good Catholic with the Ten Commandments ... I had to kill men. A lot of men,” said Anderson. “The first time you come under fire, you find a part of you that you didn’t know you had.” For many, Vietnam was an unpopular war in the United States, spurring protests across the country. By Aug. 15, 1973, when American military involvement ended, fully two-thirds of the nation was opposed to the fighting. Anderson found that out first-hand.
See Looking back Page 2
Putnam County Record photo/Dixie Schroeder
Walking the walk; talking the talk Putnam County Junior High school students held a walk-a-thon Friday to celebrate their VIP classrooms raising money for their favorite charities. This event had a representative from each charity in attendance. Charities represented included Putnam County Food Pantry, IVAR and Special Olympics.
Bzzzzz ... It’s back! Health department gets grant for WNV surveillance By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com.
PRINCETON — The Bureau/Putnam County Health Department has received a state grant to help with surveillance work for the coming West Nile Virus (WNV) season.
The local health department will receive $14,236 for Bureau County and $11,362 for Putnam County. The Illinois Department of Public Health awarded the WNV grants totaling $3.4 million to 90 certified local health departments throughout the state.
The grants are based on WNV activity surveillance from the previous three years, along with county population. In announcing the grant, Illinois Department of Public Health Director LaMar Hasbrouck said Illinois experienced its second highest number of human West Nile Virus cases last year, second only to the 2002 outbreak.
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“Our local health departments around the state are on the front lines in the fight against West Nile Virus, and it is important they have the resources necessary to monitor mosquito activity, take steps to reduce the mosquito population and investigate human infections,” Hasbrouck said.
See West Nile Page 3