Thoughts and stories, by Pal

  I just read this story in the Deseret News that I get on the internet.  It brought tears to my eyes, as it will any of you who will read it.  The man in the story passed away this year on August 9, 2021, an 86 year old man! A Latter-day Saint behind enemy lines: The untold story of the man who spied on East Germany By  Heather Moore     Aug 29, 2021, 10:40pm MDT Share this story All sharing options Barbed wire and soldiers of the East German army block the border between East and West Berlin at Zimmerstrassen, Aug. 13, 1961.   Associated Press Several months into serving in West Germany, Bob Inama was called into Major Taggett’s office. “Sit down, Bob,” Taggett said. This was the red flag. Major Taggett, an officer, had addressed Bob by his first name. That never happened. Bob was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1959. He put his schooling and career plans of attending George Washington University, and becoming a lawyer, on hold. A returned missionary f...

The Red Rose and the Mission Call By Daris Howard  · May 21, 2019 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Lewis had fought through World War II in the Pacific. He had seen many of his friends die, and he had himself been wounded. So when he was assigned as a guard at the war crimes trials in Japan, hatred burned in his heart for those he felt had been the cause of this destructive war. In his work at the trial, he did not associate too much with the Japanese people, and Lewis was happy about that. He wanted nothing to do with them. And as he did his guard duty day after day, he had lots of time to think about the war, and his hatred increased. But one little Japanese lady bothered him the most. Whenever she saw Americans, she would offer them a solitary red rose. She especially took notice of Lewis and would single him out for her simple offering. He would reject her gift, as did all other Americans. She seemed hurt by this, b...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm posting this on the night before Thanksgiving , so anyone who can get BYUtv will be able to either watch it tomorrow, on Thanksgiving at 6 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, or record it. BYUtv’s Thanksgiving Special: A Very Different Kind of World War II Film By Mariah Proctor  · November 19, 2017 Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please  CLICK HERE Instrument of War,  a new film from BYUtv set to premiere on Thanksgiving day ,  is inspired by the true story of WWII bomber pilot Clair Cline who was shot down and taken as a prisoner of war in a German prison camp. The story follows him and the other surviving members of his mission as they struggle to remain psychologically sound while in the captivity of a hardhearted commandant. And how does Cline choose to cope with this helpless and hopeless situation? By building a violin from only what he can find in their dingy, meager captivity. It is, in ...

Mavis is born:       During this winter Pratt’s service connected disability check was increased from $12 to $35 a month.  We wanted more family and we decided we’d rather live on that amount than put off having another child.  So by the time school was out Mavis was on her way.  How thankful we’ve always been we did not procrastinate for we may have been eternally deprived of the wonderful blessing she has been to us.  During that winter Pratt was able to take care of the babies part time.  At other times we had a 16 year old girl.  I guess she did okay for her age, but my what a contrast from Grandma Aldridge.      By mid summer the doctor told me I was going to have twins.  (They didn’t X Ray then much.)  So I prepared and was happy with the thought of twins.  I even went up to Emily Foremaster’s to spend a few hours to see how she managed with her twins plus the 2 older ones.       We we...