Thanks to Rodney and Patti Heinrich for kind words and the gift of the book, “Redemption at Hacksaw Ridge.”

The kind words were that The Times and Free Press is the “best small town newspaper in Oklahoma.” We have worked for 40 years to make the Times and

We have worked for 40 years to make the Times and Free Press a factual and honest newspaper.

While we no longer own the newspaper, we think it is now better than ever under son Barry’s leadership and the superb writing of Senior Editor Christine Reid and Managing Editor Michael Swisher.

Now feature writer Twila Adams has joined the writing team.

It is unusual, we believe, to find three such talented newspersons on the staff of a newspaper this size.

Book Inspired Movie

The book given us by the Heinrichs, written by Booton Herndon, was the inspiration for the movie, “Hacksaw Ridge,”directed by Mel Gibson, telling of the exploits of combat medic (and Medal of Honor winner) Desmond T. Doss, who personally moved 75 men to safety after they had been wounded in the fierce fighting on Okinawa.

He also served in other pitched battles in Leyte and Guam.

Doss was a principled Christian (Seventh Day Adventist) who refused to carry a gun but served his nation in the military in a capacity he deemed commensurate with his Christian faith – serving his fellow man.

He repeatedly exposed himself to combat fire to treat wounded fellow soldiers. He was wounded several times while exposing himself to enemy fire but continued to treat other wounded soldiers.

Reading about such acts of heroism brings tears to your eyes.

Doss’ actions in battle after battle allowed many soldiers to come home again.

Talking about his decision not to carry a gun, Doss said: “While others are taking life, I will be giving life.” He described himself as a “Conscientious Cooperator.”

The book relates that he developed tuberculosis after he came home, apparently an after-effect of the conditions the soldiers endured.

It was sad to realize that after giving his best in four years of active military duty, he still endured difficulties related to that service.

A touching comment was made in an epilogue written by Les Speer, who observed that when Doss attended conventions of Medal of Honor recipients, it was normal for other winners to line up to talk to Doss, “their hero.”

Doss died March 23, 2006, in his Piedmont, Ala., home.

Thank you, Rodney and Patti, for the book. We recommend it to anyone interested in reading about the bravery of a truly humble and patriotic Christian individual. Much more could be written about this special individual but we’ll leave it to others to find a copy and read for themselves about his legacy of faith and service that should serve as an inspiration to all Americans.

Encouragement Questioned

We have often wondered if we did the right thing in encouraging our son, Barry, to enter the journalism field. Barry is the publisher of the Times and Free Press and

Barry is the publisher of the Times and Free Press and we are a retiree who is allowed to come to the office to fill our days and hopefully write a few things to make people think.

We have never proclaimed ourself an authority on any subject but have our opinions based on six decades of experience in the newspaper industry and observing the governance of the U.S. and other nations.

Our concern is not about the legitimacy of the work but rather about the state of the nation’s citizens – more and more of whom appear opposed to the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of speech.

There seems little doubt that the opposition to this uniquely American, God-given right has its origins on college campuses where overwhelmingly left-wing professors push the leftist agenda.

As more and more young people are indoctrinated. Polls indicate a majority of millennial citizens consider socialism positively, no doubt because of a constant drumbeat by the colleges, corporate media and the entertainment industry.

Free Press Jeopardized

The future of a healthy give-and-take of diverse opinion is in jeopardy, thus, the future for an independent press.

If such people become the majority, people who oppose free speech would quickly relegate individuals such as yours truly to re-education camps to have their thinking “straightened out.”

The first step of tyrannical governments is to stamp out dissent.

Note: historically all left-wing governments become dictatorships. China, Korea and now, more recently, Venezuela, demonstrate this axiom.

Columnist Guy Benson related this:

“A recent survey of student attitudes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – a selective public university in a reddish-purple battleground state – reveals that conservative-leaning students are the likeliest ideological group to self-censor their beliefs, for fear of social and other reprisals, and that conservatives are by far the most disparaged cohort on campus. The study also finds that leftist students are far more likely to reject free speech norms, and are least tolerant of opposing viewpoints. None of this is terribly surprising to anyone who’s been paying attention to the political climate on college campuses over many years, but it’s interesting data that flies in the face of some denialists’ insistence that the threat to free speech expression at institutions of higher learning is massively exaggerated.”

Sadly, many media giants – and they control far more than a majority of the news dispensers – contribute to the attack on free speech, attempting to prevent any views but their own from being disseminated.