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Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Adolf Hitler boasted that he had founded
a Third Reich that would last for a thousand years. He succeeded only in laying waste
to much of Europe and in killing millions of people.Now the underground bunker in
Berlin where Hitler spent his last days has been dug up, exposing the site for a
last time before it is paved over again with a new road.
Hitler killed himself in the bunker on April
30, 1945, with advancing Soviet troops just a block away. For decades the bunker
was buried beneath the Berlin Wall's no-man's land.
When the end came, Hitler and his mistress,
Eva Braun, whom he had married days earlier, killed themselves _ Hitler with a shot
through the mouth and Braun with poison.
Aides dumped the bodies in a hole blasted
open by a shell, and partially incinerated them along with 14 other corpses. The
shallow grave was hit repeatedly by Red Army shells. Soviet soldiers dug up the remains.
In 1993, Russia claimed to hold parts of Hitler's skull in a state archive, but experts
have disputed their authenticity.
Workers dug into the roof while trying to
ensure that no unexploded bombs remained in the area. Little can be seen of the bunker
except for rusted metal rods protruding from a patch of concrete.
City officials said they saw no reason to
preserve the "Fuehrer- bunker" and plan to dig no deeper. In 1994 the city
decided it would not preserve the site.
There is enough interest in the bunker to
justify preserving it, but the Berliners can be forgiven for wanting to forget about
it. Officials fear it could become a mecca for neo-Nazis. The best way to preserve
Hitler's legacy of horror is to maintain the concentration camps.
--
Atlanta Journal Constitution
For generations, high school seniors have
voted in contests for everything from "Miss Congeniality" to "Most
Likely to Succeed." But only in Duval County, Fla., do students vote for "Most
Popular Religion."
Not literally, of course. But that's the
effect of a policy the local school board implemented in 1993 to get around a U.S.
Supreme Court ban on school-sponsored prayer at graduation ceremonies. A constitutional
challenge to Duval County's policy will be heard today in the federal appeals court
in Atlanta.
Under pressure to continue invocations,
Duval school officials circulated a memorandum titled "Graduation Prayers"
that called for seniors to elect a student to deliver a two-minute "message"
at commencement. Although the messages aren't required to be religious, the intent
was clear, and students have followed suit.
In the years since, messages have been consistently
religious; graduation programs typically refer to the speakers as "chaplains"
and to their addresses as "benedictions" and "invocations," according
to court documents filed by the plaintiffs.
The record also shows that speaker candidates
have more or less campaigned on the basis of their religious backgrounds. That is
the troubling aspect of this practice: It is essentially a popularity contest among
religions and religious messages.
In this country, we do not put spirituality
up for a vote. The majority do not have the right to establish a religion for everybody
else. That is is the essence of the concept of separation of church and state.
Karen Adler, whose daughter is the lead
plaintiff, is challenging Duval's practice. "Here we are at graduation to celebrate
everyone's accomplishment, and some people are excluded," she said.
Her intent is in no way to denigrate spiritual
pursuits. Spirituality is a vital aspect of humanity. It gives meaning to our lives
beyond the crass pursuit of material well-being. And, admittedly, there is little
in the public schools these days to counter the materialism and hedonism that are
the overwhelming messages of popular culture. But forcing the religion of a majority
onto students who believe differently is not the answer.
Duval County's defense of its policy shouldn't
have a prayer in court.
--
Albany, N.Y., Times Union
The rescue mission to the South Pole was
a tribute to dedication and training.
Rescues have been characterized as daring
with such frequency that the adjective has become shopworn. But no other description
accurately fits the state Air National Guard's mission to Antarctica over the weekend.
It was risky and lifesaving at the same time. Probably no one appreciates that more
than Dr. Jerri Nielson, the sole physician tending to 41 researchers at the South
Pole. She had been waiting since last summer for the Guard to take her back to the
United States for breast cancer treatment after discovering a lump in her breast
in June.
Now she is back in the United States, on
her way home to Troy, Ohio, thanks to the Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing,
based in Glenville, which was uniquely suited to the rescue operation.
For years, the Guard wing has been flying
to Antarctica as part of its role in support of scientific research there. Pilots
and crew are trained in the hazards of landing lumbering C-130 Hercules cargo planes
on rock-hard ice under the most taxing of weather conditions _ temperatures at 58
below zero, ice that could be sticky enough to adhere to the plane's landing mechanism
and prevent takeoff, and the chance that temperatures might suddenly plummet and
freeze the aircraft's hydraulics. Favorable weather conditions usually don't occur
until later this month. The C-130's pilot, Maj. George R. McAllister Jr., became
the first person ever to land on an ice cap at this time of year.
The 109th is the only unit that flies these
behemoths, which are equipped with skis rather than traditional landing gear. Yet
the skis are no guarantee of an easy landing. Anything less than a skillfully maneuvered
touchdown could have sent the aircraft skidding and twisting along a runaway. The
successful landing was a tribute not only to the dedicated flight crew but also to
hundreds of military planners, airport personnel and maintenance workers.
In one sense, this rescue by a local Guard
wing that traveled 11,410 nautical miles to the South Pole was extraordinary. In
another sense, it was in keeping with other Guard rescue missions much closer to
home _ the tornado that touched down in Mechanicville, the North Country ice storm,
the brush fires on Long Island, and the raging rains of Floyd that battered downstate,
to name a few.
Each disaster produced heroes from all walks
of life, to be sure. But as the mission to the South Pole so vividly illustrates,
those heroes nowadays often are likely to be wearing the uniform of the National
Guard.
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