Makin' us proud

In case you were wondering, the "K" is worldwide shorthand, they call it the "country code," locating the facility in the U. S. of A. Generally, though, domestically, the "K" is omitted and only the last three letters are used. Those last three letters customarily had some relationship to location for example MKC is Kansas City, RVS is Riverside Airport near Tulsa now named Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. I guess you had to be there! ICT is Wichita, OMA is Omaha and DEN is Denver. It all made sense. But then I always wondered why MCK for McCook which gets easily confused for, not too far away, MKC which is Kansas City Downtown Airport and the International Airport there is MCI -- go figure. Those two airports by the way are both located in Missouri.

Now I know! The "M" is for McCook. The "C" stands for Cornhusker and now the "K" is for Kickback! So properly it has become "United States McCook's Ben Nelson Cornhusker Kickback Regional Airport." Thanks Ben, you are makin' us proud!

It was a bittersweet experience Saturday for Ann and me to attend the District 8, "Fitch School," auction. I spent eight memorable years there. Ann was also a country school product but from Frontier County. She attended grades 1 through 8 at Bluff View School district 98(?) about 30 miles northwest of McCook. My District 8 schoolmate, Jerda Garey, stated it best "My mind was flooded with memories as I walked up the steps into the 'Big Room'.''

Jerda and I -- she was a Thompson then -- did all eight grades offered and passed the state-required eighth grade exam before continuing our education at McCook High School.

Personal recollection reminds me that we opened every day of school standing by our desk. We placed our right hands over our hearts and recited together the pledge of allegiance "To the Flag of the United States of America." That 48- star American Flag was always proudly displayed in the front of the classroom near pictures of Presidents Washington and Lincoln. Actually when I first learned it the little clause 'under God' was not a part of the pledge. That was only added after World War II, as I remember.

The repeated act of reciting the pledge instilled into my heart the understanding that a true patriot has an allegiance to our nation, even greater than to God, family or self! We call it patriotism and it is a good thing!

Communal prayer was not a part of our school day, although our teachers were unabashedly Christian. Prayer wasn't forbidden it just wasn't a part of our daily school ritual. A highlight of the school year was our Christmas program production and we sang Christian songs without feeling guilty. Being anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or anti-anything else, the modern term is "secular," was simply not a player! But then, in those days, our school was governed by local school board members, not from a multi-hundred million dollar funded liberal thinking federal Department of Education.

Now contrast my experience (and most likely yours too) to that of our President Barack Hussein Obama. Back during his formative years when he was known as Barry Soetoro, he attended a Madrassa in Indonesia. A Madrassa is of course a Muslim school for boys only who are taught the tenants of the religion of Mohamed with one of its main themes being anti-Semitism or hatred of Jews.

My education was little different from all of you who were schooled before the rise of anti-Americanism in the '60s! I suspect that our president's education didn't include those same values of love of country, liberty and the moral principles of Christianity that we know and cherish yet today.

Ever wonder why President Obama required Israeli PM Netanyahu enter the White House by the back door in the dead of night when he came to visit last year? Why he will give no political support to Israel even against holocaust- denying Iran? That same Iran that is eagerly developing nuclear weapons that they will surely use, at first opportunity, against their neighbor? Whose administration is eagerly vetting Hamas leadership so as to allow Europe to send terrorist Hamas aid in the Palestinian cause against Israel? "It might of had something to do with his upbringing!" so my mom would have said.

Oh it is a shame that a young "Windy City Barry" missed the opportunity to attend a small country school in his mother's native state of Kansas. I think that our country would surely be better off for it.

That is the way I saw it.