Tag Archive for colin kelly

Colin P. Kelly, Jr.: Backbone and Courage

July 4, 2011 Editorials Comments Off
22-01

Thanks to Nelson Pryor for finding the following. It is also printed in the Friday, July 2, 2011 Madison Enterprise-Recorder
Colin P. Kelly, Jr., age 17, delivered to this speech in front of the PTA
Originally printed in the January 22, 1932 Madison Enterprise-Recorder
The citizen I most admire has four salient characteristics, which if allowed to come to the front in everybody, would make us all ideal citizens. I say allowed to come to the front because I personally think that everyone of us possesses them but because some other quality or qualities overshadows them they are not given an opportunity for full development.
The first quality of the four is Kindheartedness. This includes pleasantness, sociability and obligingness. Unless this person is pleasant, sociable and obliging, he is not a good citizen. For to be a good citizen, one must mix with his or her fellow citizens and they not only won’t be inclined to do this but their fellow citizens won’t want them to be around unless they are pleasant, sociable and obliging.
The second of these qualities is Good Character. Let us consider the important characteristics of good character. Good character not only means honesty, truthfulness and the like, but it also embodies the Golden Rule, which is bust honesty from a different angle. One may be honest to money matters and also with his time but may be destroying his neighbors’ property in an unintentional manner. The good citizen is careful not to do this.
Next along the line of major characteristics comes that of Good Business Judgment. Without this, a citizen has no way of making money to put in his community enterprises. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that to be a good citizen one must have money or a big business, but, with no business sense, he would be a failure and failures are setbacks rather than aids to any community.
Now, last, but not least by any means, is that essential and lacking characteristic in so many citizens today. That is Courage. Courage in business, courage in social affairs (and needed of course) courage in religious affairs. The courage to say yes or no, whichever your better judgment and conscience dictates at no matter what cost to your own interests. The citizen I most admire has the backbone and courage to face a hostile crowd or even public sentiment and do what he thinks is right. How many men or women or boys or girls have we in this land of ours who would do this? How many real honest-to-goodness good citizens have we? While courage is not the only essential quality of a good citizen, it is by far one of the most important. Without it, no citizen can do the most for his community.
In closing, let me say that while many of us have seen many people who at a glance seem to be good citizens, would they stand close inspection? The citizen I most admire will stand the closest inspection.

Share

Unity Baptist Hosting 17th Annual Youth Fish Fry

March 3, 2011 Church, Front Page Comments Off

By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Unity Baptist Church will hold its 17th annual youth fish fry on Friday, March 4, from 5-7 p.m.
People can dine-in or take-out if they wish.
Each fish dinner cost $10 and includes all the fixings, as well as homemade desserts and iced tea.
Unity Baptist Church is located six miles north of Madison on Stare Road 145 (Colin Kelly/Valdosta Highway).

Share

Save Our Monument

February 22, 2011 Editorials Comments Off

National Security

Joe Boyles
Guest Columnist

The greatest cultural gift bestowed upon our community is the Four Freedoms Monument.  Commissioned by President Roosevelt in the early days of World War II, the monument serves to honor two ideas.  First, there are a unique set of values which define our nation, symbolized by the four freedoms.  Second, these ideas are worth fighting and dying for as was the heroic example of Colin P. Kelly, Jr. whose name graces the pedestal of the monument.
On January 6, 1941, FDR delivered what presidential historians recently hailed as the third most important State of the Union address in our nation’s history.  In this speech, Roosevelt painted a grim picture of a world at war and suggested that sooner or later, America would need to pick sides.  By focusing on the freedoms that define our nation, we would know which side best represented our core values.
Eleven months later, the Japanese attacked and America entered the war.  One of the war’s first casualties was Madison native Colin P. Kelly, Jr. who valiantly sacrificed his life to save his B-17 crew after attacking a Japanese warship in The Philippines.  The nation was inspired by Kelly’s heroic sacrifice as was the President who proclaimed Colin Kelly our nation’s first war hero.
Roosevelt commissioned a monument to be constructed to honor both the ideals of the Four Freedoms and Captain Kelly’s sacrifice.  Walter Russell created the monument which was unveiled at Madison Square Garden in 1943 to more than 60 thousand admirers.  Then the monument was shipped south.  It was dedicated on Flag Day, June 14, 1944 at the spot where it resides today on the corner of Base and Range Streets.  Governor Spessard Holland gave the keynote address to what was likely the largest crowd to gather in Madison’s history.
Today the monument sits on a pedestal at the center of town, largely untouched since its dedication seven decades ago … and it is slowly crumbling before our eyes.  The Four Freedoms Monument was not sculpted from a piece of durable North Georgia marble but rather formed from a plaster and marble ship composite.  The biggest culprit to the monument’s slow disintegration is rain.  You see, the monument was never designed to be placed outdoors among the elements of weather.
If nothing is done, the monument will continue to deteriorate and the four angels will eventually become unrecognizable.  How long will this take?  Who knows; the problem with gradual deterioration is that it is slow but always taking place.  We get used to the wear and dirty color, not realizing what is happening over time.
What can be done to preserve this important and priceless treasure, the very symbol of our community?  I think the answer is a structure to keep the direct rain off the monument.  It would need to be architecturally designed to add rather than detract from the beauty of the monument.  And in the process, it could be much more.  With proper lighting, it could present an even more magnificent presence at night than it does today.  We could also fix a press-to-hear speaker that would briefly tell visitors about the significance of the monument and include excerpts from the speech in Roosevelt’s own voice.  We could also build a civics and history program to introduce the relevance of the monument to our school children.
How much would this project cost?  I don’t really know but I shouldn’t think it would be terribly expensive.  First we would raise the funds for a design which would also include a cost estimate.  Once the design was approved by local authorities, we would begin fund raising to construct the structure.  We might find some grant money to augment local fund raising.
It seems like a worthwhile project to protect and preserve this iconic symbol of freedom and sacrifice.  Are we willing to make a modest sacrifice of time, resources and energy to honor our legacy?
Postscript: Last month, I wrote an article critical of public sector unions that stirred up some passion.  That article turned out to be prescient.  What you are seeing unfold in Wisconsin is literally the tip of the iceberg.  One state after another has come to the realization that politicians have over promised and then kicked the can too far down the road.  These public sector contracts are bankrupting the states and they simply must be reigned in — there isn’t enough money to pay the obligations.

Share