Bob Collins
The Associated Press invited us to pause and reflect on the past by taking another long look at the present: images of the men who are still able to return to Europe for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
War
With the 75th anniversary of D-Day coming, dozens of C-47s — the military version of the DC-3 — are on their way to the coast of France. And this derelict is getting some well-deserved attention. Read more →
The daughter of a Marine, the first service member killed in the war in Kuwait/Iraq, raises money for a memorial with a new beer. Read more →
It was on this date in 1975 that President Gerald Ford announced that the Vietnam War era was over, a declaration that doesn’t even register a blip on the historical calendar because the war actually ended more than a week earlier when Ford told a graduating class at Tulane University that for America, the war was over. Read more →
Not long after NewsCut was hatched, I drove around the state interviewing women who had served in World War II for a series on women and the war. Whenever I contacted one of my intended subjects, their response was almost always the same: ‘I’m not very newsworthy.’ They were wrong, of course. Everyone’s got a story worth telling. Read more →
Lt. Col. Richard Cole was 103 when he died Monday morning in San Antonio.
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As of this morning, I have written 16,057 NewsCut posts since starting the blog. None of them have reached so deeply into the hearts of individuals as the original post about the picture. None keeps coming back to life like that one.
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Today’s story is about seeing the big picture, particularly for parents who are outraged that school has been canceled around here today and their kids are safe at home and presenting quite an inconvenience. Read more →
George Mendonsa has died and you’re forgiven if the name doesn’t ring a bell. For a number of years, we only knew him by one moment on V-J day. Read more →
It was entirely predictable what would happen today at the funeral for James McCue, 97, who died at a home for old folks in Methuen, Mass., outliving all the family he had. Read more →
Richard Overton had a good answer when asked his secret to living to 112.
‘Not dying,’ he said. Read more →
There are hardly words left to say after reading the Associated Press’ investigation revealing that rebels in Yemen are going door to door to grab children to fight as soldiers. Read more →
There are only five men left of the survivors of the USS Arizona, sunk by the Japanese in the attack on Pearl Harbor 77 years ago Friday.
For the first time in years, no survivor of the Arizona will make the trip to Oahu for ceremonies and return the salute as a Navy ship passes by the memorial. Read more →
A Saudi journalist is probably dead because there’s no country left on the planet using its moral authority to prevent the killing of those who seek the truth about power. Read more →
Talk is cheap and nowhere is it more inexpensive than La Crosse, Wis., where neighbors say they support veterans of the military. Read more →