Remembering George McGovern

[Octafish]

14. A real Democrat.

A heroic man in every way, he believed all life is precious and all people are equal.

In a radio interview discussing an autobiography, I heard him recall a mission over Germany during World War 2. A 500-pound bomb had not released over the target during the bombing run and they needed to get rid of it in order to land safely. The crew managed to get it to drop over the Austrian countryside. McGovern watched it fall and, as fate would have it, drop directly into the only house in site, completely destroying the structure. For years after the war McGovern wondered about the poor farmer and his family who would have been inside the home around their lunch hour. He was a farmer and understood the routine. Many decades later, he was invited to speak in Germany and related the story. A retired farmer later contacted McGovern and told him that was his home. The family had been home, but heard the aircraft and had taken shelter outside the home. They all survived. McGovern's voice trembled with happiness relating his news.

Speaking of the bombing Auschwitz and the other death camps, one American in authority stood in opposition, John J McCloy. Where it counts most, the guy epitomized all that McGovern wasn't.

Thank you for another outstanding post, Time for change. People who read your stuff do change -- into smarter and better people.