Jeff Stahler- Editorial Cartoonist
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Paul Arizin, William Birch & Buck O'Neil
One of the saddest parts of the working on defineFREEDOM.com is watching the news and seeing that participators and contributers have passed away. This post will review three such cases.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Paul Arizin
"PHILADELPHIA — Paul Arizin, an early adopter of the jump shot who led the Philadelphia Warriors to an NBA championship in 1956 and was named one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time, died Tuesday night [12/13/2006] at his home in suburban Philadelphia. He was 78.
Arizin, a Hall of Famer who was cut from high school team, died in his sleep,
according to a statement from Villanova University, where Arizin had an outstanding college career.
Arizin is survived by his wife, Maureen, four sons, a daughter and 14 grandchildren."
-USA Today
Mr. Arizin completed his card on October 21, 2006
_____________________________________________________________________________
Mr. William Birch
"Mr. Birch joined the United States Army Air Force in September 1939, trained as a bombardier, and by 1942 was a Staff Sergeant in the 34th Bomb Squadron. When the squadron was asked, Mr. Birch was among those who volunteered for the Tokyo Raid. He took part in the Raid as the bombardier of the #11 aircraft flown by Capt. Ross Greening. Their aircraft made a bomb run on an oil refinery and attacked a patrol boat headed out of Tokyo Bay to the China Sea. The crew bailed out at night over China and were assisted by Chinese villagers. Mr. Birch passed away on Saturday, November 18, 2006. He was preceded in death by his wife. He enjoyed writing poetry, and enjoyed taking care of stray animals along with his wife. He was proud to be an American." - http://www.doolittleraid.com/
Mr. Birch completed his card January of 2006.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Buck O'Neil
"Buck O’Neil, a star first baseman and manager in the Negro leagues and a pioneering scout and coach in the major leagues who devoted the final decade of his life to chronicling the lost world of black baseball, died last night in Kansas City, Mo. He was 94." -New York Times
"'Shed no tears for Buck,' he told friends who had gathered that day. “I couldn’t attend Sarasota High School. That hurt. I couldn’t attend the University of Florida. That hurt.
“But not going into the Hall of Fame, that ain’t going to hurt me that much, no. Before, I wouldn’t even have a chance. But this time I had that chance.”
And then a man who, for decades warmed every cold shoulder leveled his way, did so again.
When it came time to induct the others into the Hall of Fame in late July, it was O’Neil who stood proudly to deliver the day’s first address.
“Buck O’Neil was one of the greatest ambassadors baseball has ever known,” said Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He was a giant of a man whose wisdom, kindness and generosity of spirit will live on forever in all those whom he touched and who touched him." -The Associated Press
Mr. O'Neil September 2006, three weeks before he passed away.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Even though we never meet many of the people who participate in defineFEEDOM.com, we
do feel a connection to all of them, and hope that their memories will never be forgotten.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Paul Arizin
"PHILADELPHIA — Paul Arizin, an early adopter of the jump shot who led the Philadelphia Warriors to an NBA championship in 1956 and was named one of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time, died Tuesday night [12/13/2006] at his home in suburban Philadelphia. He was 78.
Arizin, a Hall of Famer who was cut from high school team, died in his sleep,
according to a statement from Villanova University, where Arizin had an outstanding college career.
Arizin is survived by his wife, Maureen, four sons, a daughter and 14 grandchildren."
-USA Today
Mr. Arizin completed his card on October 21, 2006
_____________________________________________________________________________
Mr. William Birch
"Mr. Birch joined the United States Army Air Force in September 1939, trained as a bombardier, and by 1942 was a Staff Sergeant in the 34th Bomb Squadron. When the squadron was asked, Mr. Birch was among those who volunteered for the Tokyo Raid. He took part in the Raid as the bombardier of the #11 aircraft flown by Capt. Ross Greening. Their aircraft made a bomb run on an oil refinery and attacked a patrol boat headed out of Tokyo Bay to the China Sea. The crew bailed out at night over China and were assisted by Chinese villagers. Mr. Birch passed away on Saturday, November 18, 2006. He was preceded in death by his wife. He enjoyed writing poetry, and enjoyed taking care of stray animals along with his wife. He was proud to be an American." - http://www.doolittleraid.com/
Mr. Birch completed his card January of 2006.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Buck O'Neil
"Buck O’Neil, a star first baseman and manager in the Negro leagues and a pioneering scout and coach in the major leagues who devoted the final decade of his life to chronicling the lost world of black baseball, died last night in Kansas City, Mo. He was 94." -New York Times
"'Shed no tears for Buck,' he told friends who had gathered that day. “I couldn’t attend Sarasota High School. That hurt. I couldn’t attend the University of Florida. That hurt.
“But not going into the Hall of Fame, that ain’t going to hurt me that much, no. Before, I wouldn’t even have a chance. But this time I had that chance.”
And then a man who, for decades warmed every cold shoulder leveled his way, did so again.
When it came time to induct the others into the Hall of Fame in late July, it was O’Neil who stood proudly to deliver the day’s first address.
“Buck O’Neil was one of the greatest ambassadors baseball has ever known,” said Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He was a giant of a man whose wisdom, kindness and generosity of spirit will live on forever in all those whom he touched and who touched him." -The Associated Press
Mr. O'Neil September 2006, three weeks before he passed away.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Even though we never meet many of the people who participate in defineFEEDOM.com, we
do feel a connection to all of them, and hope that their memories will never be forgotten.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Donald Rumsfeld & Melvin E. Biddle
Donald Rumsfeld- 2007
Thank you for your kind letter an invitation to participate in the freedom project. Included is my index card on what freedom means to me. I am honored to make such a small contribution to such an important endeavor.
Your project reminds Americans how fortunate we are to live in a nation of liberty and how blessed we are to have men and women willing to step forward and defend it. It is important that the moms and dads, and the brothers and sisters fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere know that we at home value their great sacrifice to our nation.
Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Donald Rumsfeld
Melvin E. Biddle - 2005
A picture sent to The Freedom Project from Melvin E. Biddle, he is shown with President Harry Truman receiving his Medal of Honor.
Thank you for your kind letter an invitation to participate in the freedom project. Included is my index card on what freedom means to me. I am honored to make such a small contribution to such an important endeavor.
Your project reminds Americans how fortunate we are to live in a nation of liberty and how blessed we are to have men and women willing to step forward and defend it. It is important that the moms and dads, and the brothers and sisters fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere know that we at home value their great sacrifice to our nation.
Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Donald Rumsfeld
Melvin E. Biddle - 2005
A picture sent to The Freedom Project from Melvin E. Biddle, he is shown with President Harry Truman receiving his Medal of Honor.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
July 28, 2007-August 5, 2007
New cards:
Miep Gies-Anne Frank's friend and helper
Doro Bush-Koch- daughter of President Bush 41 and sister of President Bush 43
L. Paul Bremer- Ambassador, and an official in charge of reconstructing
Erskine Bowles- chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and now president of the
George Will- journalist and conservative commentator
Bill Withers- singer-songwriter
Ted Sorenson-speechwriter for JFK
Hank Hartsfield- astronaut
Dutch Van Kirk-navigator on the Enola Gay
Bob Schieffer- CBS news chief
Michael Dukakis-1988 Democratic presidential nominee.
Hugh Martin- songwriter
Russell Johnson- actor, the professor on Gilligan's
Howard Dean- 2004 presidential hopeful, and now head of the Democratic National Committee.
Condoleezza Rice-former national security adviser, Secretary of State
Lou Holtz- former head coach to the Notre Dame Football program.
Letters:
Howard Dean:
I'm always excited to see young people getting involved in politics, and this is a great project. I'm happy to participate. For me, freedom is composed of two things:
1 -- the ability to do what you think is right without interference from government and.
2 -- the responsibility to do what you think is right to build a strong interdependent community.
Again, this is a great project.
Sincerely,
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
John Finn:
Thanks to the four of you for your letter to me with news of your freedom project. It's a fine idea and I am glad to join in with the others to help along, as long as I live? -but I am now 98 years “old.”
Sincerely,
John W. Finn
Welcome to the definefreedom.com blog
Welcome to definefreedom.com blog. This newest portion of definefreedom.com is designed to keep you up to date weekly on the cards that are received. Also included will be content that is not part of defined freedom.com like letters, photos and other items we receive from participants. The plot will usually be updated on Sunday nights, so check back every week for the newest updates.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)