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Category Archives: Notions

A Cowboy’s Faith: Payoff will eliminate debt

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.Incomprehensible the volume of scam calls received in one day, let alone a week and month.

They are all aggravating with most promising something that is too good to be true.

Most upsetting and biggest rip-off to the economy is when the caller touts an opportunity to “eliminate your credit card debt.”

The only way to do that or abolish any financial obligation is to pay it off with hard earned money.

When a commitment is made to buy anything, it is the purchaser’s responsibility to pay for the acquisition.

Never have forgotten the message of a field day speaker: “You can’t eat your cake and have it too.” That applies to everything in life of material value.

The nation’s economy cannot continue to operate positively if people don’t meet their personal financial obligations.

Everything has a cost, and somebody is taking a loss when it is not paid for. It is impossible to operate any business without positive revenue for continued economic cash flow.

Credit accounts are a generous way for owners to assist buyers in extending time for payment. But, when payment is not immediate, interest on the purchase continues to mount, decreasing profits for the sales firm.

Seemingly, many people don’t understand that debts must be paid and jump on promises of eliminating monetary responsibility without payment. It sounds good on the forefront frequently even creating optimism for a person to “be out of debt.”

Most people do not want to be in debt, but the only honest way out is to pay the bill. Generally, that is far from easy and requires lots of time and dedication to do what’s right.

Osage County Senior Center: Breakfast, lunch and shopping trips scheduled

Hello from the Osage County Senior Center and the Osage County Public Transportation. I am sad to say that we did not place in the Sunflower and Scarecrow Contest at the Kansas State Fair.

The Sewing Chicks have a beautiful fall quilt up for a raffle, so stop in and get your tickets. Don’t forget the potluck lunch on Oct. 4; we eat at noon. A blood drive is 2-6 p.m. Oct. 5; donors are encouraged to stop in a sign up.

The Breakfast Club is going to Lamont Hill at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 13. The Lunch Bunch is going to Smoked Creations, in Ottawa, at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 27. We are taking a bus to the senior fair in Emporia on Oct. 18. Anyone interested in going should give us a call to get your name on the list. Shopping trips to Topeka are on the first and third Thursdays of each month. Call to make reservations.

On Oct. 26, John McGrath will be here to help with choosing the right Medicare Supplement plan. He will be available 9 a.m.-12 p.m.; stop in and make the right plan for you. Herms Foot care is here Oct. 19 and 24.

We are going to try and learn to Line Dance every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Come join us, it will be interesting. The ceramics class is up and going it is $4 per class, with most supplies furnished.

High Rollers is 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursday. Home Town Health Care is here to call quarter Bingo at 10 a.m. every Tuesday; all invited to come and enjoy.

The senior center is in need of donations of buttons and lace. If anyone has any they would like to donate, we would love to have them.

I am open to all suggestions for activities and or outings. Don’t forget that we rent out the center for events that need larger accommodations. Come and enjoy the fun and activities with us!

Thanks, Franny!
Franny Deters, Osage County Senior Center director

Eat Well to Be Well: Jump-start weight loss with a protein-packed breakfast

Adding more protein to your diet is one of the most effective ways to lose weight. And the best time to begin starts in the morning by eating breakfast.

Starting your day with a protein-rich breakfast can be an effective strategy if you’re looking to lose weight. Research has demonstrated that a high-protein breakfast can assist in achieving weight loss objectives and preventing weight gain in both teenagers and adults.

Often touted as “the most important meal of the day,” breakfast is already well-known for improving concentration, memory, and energy levels. A high-protein breakfast’s effectiveness for weight loss is becoming increasingly apparent. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that a high-protein breakfast can be valuable for weight loss, particularly in teenagers. So, what defines how much protein should be in a high-protein breakfast? The magic numbers appear to be 25-35 grams. Unfortunately, the average American consumes far short of that, with approximately only 10 to 15 grams at breakfast, and the protein source often coming from high-sugar breakfast cereals.

Skipping breakfast is directly linked to weight gain, higher BMI, and obesity. It is imperative to acknowledge the significance of a balanced breakfast and not overlook its impact on overall health and wellness. Therefore, it is highly recommended to make sure that breakfast is an essential part of our daily routine.

LTE: Help House needs help stocking winter food pantry

Dear Editor:

Help House is experiencing the rise in food cost as everyone is. Harvesters, where we purchase most of the food for the emergency food pantry is not receiving the quantity of donated foods that they were just a couple of years ago, leading to a “trickle down” effect.

The foods Harvesters was receiving from their suppliers that Help House could order for “free” is down by about two thirds. This helped to fill the shelves without breaking our monthly food budget of approximately $2,500 a month.

We ordered from those options as much as possible. We started seeing a decline in those options a couple of years ago. That coupled with the increase in families needing assistance to put food on their tables is creating a need to make the public aware of the situation. Your monthly financial support and donations of non-perishable shelf stable foods are even more important at this time.

For the deer hunters, there is a program called “Hunters Feeding the Hungry”. If you harvest a deer or two and your family is not able to use all the meat, Lazy J Custom Meats at 1039 Laing St., Osage City, will help facilitate your donation of what you can’t use to Help House. The deer must be processed in a locker plant, but through this program USDA does not require it to receive the USDA inspection stamp. If anyone has beef, pork, chicken, or turkey, they would like to donate it must be processed in a plant that does receive the USDA stamp, such as Santa Fe Trail Meats, Overbrook.

Other pantry needs would be for any shelf stable nonperishable foods, such as canned meats, fruits, veggies, cereals, peanut butter, crackers, pancake mix, soups, canned fruits, vegetables, pastas, instant potatoes, toilet paper, laundry and bath soap, toiletries, diapers (size  4 and 5).

If your church or organization would like to collect food items to be donated, it would be welcomed.

We also have a volunteer, Ted Hazelton, who is available to present a short 20 minute program on Help House to any club, church, or civic organization in Osage County. Just call the office during our business hours to schedule: 4-7 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

For more information, call 785-828-4994, email osagecountyhh@gmail.com, or visit www.helphouse.online. Secure donations may be made on the “Donate” link there.

Thank you for your financial support and prayers for this ministry.

Sincerely,
Raylene Quaney

A Cowboy’s Faith: No place like home

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.“The ranch home is a cowboy’s castle.”

While there are various sayings about homes being castles, nothing is more important than a good, safe, secure home.

The home is even referred to as a mansion, but it’s not of size and elaborateness to fit such definition. Even when a home isn’t that fancy, it still feels like a mansion because everything of personal importance is there.

People enjoy being rulers in their own homes, and others have no right to enter without the householder’s permission.

“A man’s home is his castle” was referenced in a 1500s’ proverb as well as the Bill of Rights. “The right of the people to be secure in their houses against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.”

Disagreement over the extent of personal privacy and over interpretation of unreasonable has brought many cases before the Supreme Court.

Some people live in one home their entire lives, where they were born and where they die. They have no desire to live anyplace else.

Contrastingly, other people have lived in dozens of different homes as their professions call them to various locales forcing relocation.

Changes in life and philosophy also find people having home diversity whether location or structure quality. Even a tent or a pickup camper can become home.

Osage County Senior Center: Come and enjoy fun and activities

Hello from the Osage County Senior Center and Osage County Public Transportation – where things are happening!

The next Lunch Bunch will be to Four Corners on Sept. 22, leave at 10:30 a.m.

The ceramics class is up and going and it is $4 per class, with most supplies are furnished.

High Rollers is at 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons.  Home Town Health Care is here to call quarter bingo every Tuesday at 10 a.m.; come and enjoy. The casino trip will be Sept. 25; call now and make your reservations.

Starting in September we are going to do shopping trips on the first and third Thursdays of the month, going to Topeka Walmart, Sam’s and Aldi’s. Riders will need to call the transportation department to make reservations. This will take place of using the transportation department on a daily basis for shopping trips and will allow us to better use the transportation for other trips and serve more clients. Herms Foot Care will be here at 9 a.m. Oct. 14; call them for an appointment.

Here at the senior center we are in need of donations of buttons and lace. If anyone has any they would like to donate we would love to have them.  I am open to all suggestions for activities and or outings.  Don’t forget that we rent out the center as a venue for events.

Come and enjoy the fun and activities with us at the Osage County Senior Center!

Thanks, Franny!
Franny Deters, Osage County Senior Center director

A Cowboy’s Faith: ‘Old’ farmer gives advice

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.When a farmer’s wife previously provided advice, a number of readers men and women nodded in general agreement. It seems only fair to let the man of the farm share a lifetime of wisdom, give his two cents worth.

Again, unsolicited but received several times on the computer, here’s one “old” farmer’s tidbits for improved living:

  • Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
  • Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
  • Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
  • A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
  • Words that soak into your ears are whispered – not yelled.
  • Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
  • Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
  • Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
  • It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
  • You cannot unsay a cruel word.
  • Every path has a few puddles.
  • When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
  • The best sermons are lived, not preached.

A Cowboy’s Faith: Purpose for detour signs

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.“Detours are a common aggravation for highway drivers, seemingly more commonplace today than ever.”

As much as drivers dread seeing a detour sign and attempting to follow confusing directions, no detour sign is worse. That became apparent when major highways were barricaded off to and from the ranch headquarters.

Signs indicated “No Through Traffic,” but there were no detour signs. Drivers were given no directions on how to get from the main highway to other locations. Hundreds of vehicles, including semi tractors pulling heavily loaded livestock and grain trailers drove right around the barricades.

They were sorry for doing so when realizing through traffic on paved highways was impossible. Cars and pickups were able to make U-turns and head back to figure out some way to find their destination.

For the 18-wheelers, getting turned around became a major ordeal. Several truckers jackknifed their big rigs and spent considerable time and effort getting turned around. There was damage to certain trucks which remained stranded for extended time with their hoods up.

When headed back in the direction they came, drivers still didn’t know how to get where they wanted to go. While there were gravel rural roads, no signs pointed out which ones to take to get to any certain locale.

In urban areas, there are always detour signs which are often perplexing, but better than no driver guidance whatsoever.

“Why aren’t there detour signs posted several times along the highway before the no through traffic barricades which people ignore?” That question was asked dozens if not hundreds of times before any answer was provided.

Senior Center: Osage County represented at sunflower and scarecrow contests at state fair

Osage County’s entry in the Kansas State Fair Sunflower Contest. Courtesy photo.

Hello from the Osage County Senior Center and the Osage County Public Transportation.

Osage County has entered the Sunflower and Scarecrow Contest at the Kansas State Fair, and we here at the senior center made the entry – it was a group effort. We took it to the state fair Thursday of last week and are waiting to hear how we placed.

I also would like to mention that Osage City Police Chief Fred Nech has gone above and beyond his line of duty with a homeless family in Osage City. He has found them shelter and food, and is personally putting them on a bus Saturday to send them back home to her family. I just think that kindness these days is hard to find, and wanted to tell everyone that there are still kind people in this world, and in this small town in Kansas.

The next Lunch Bunch will be to Four Corners on Sept. 22; leaving at 10:30 a.m. The ceramics class is up and going; $4 per class, most supplies are furnished. High Rollers is 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons.

Home Town Health Care is here to call quarter bingo at 10 a.m. every Tuesday; come and enjoy. The casino trip will be Sept. 26, call now and make your reservations. Starting in this month we are going to do shopping trips on the first and third Thursdays of the month – we will be going to Topeka Walmart, Sam’s and Aldi’s. Riders need to call the Transportation department to make reservations. These trips will take place of using public transportation on a daily basis for shopping trips, and will allow us to better use transportation for other trips and serve more clients.

Herms Footcare is here at 9 a.m. Sept. 14; those interested must call them for an appointment.

Here at the senior center, we are in need of donations of buttons and lace. If anyone has any they would like to donate we would love to have them.

I am open to all suggestions for activities and or outings. Don’t forget that we rent out the senior center as a venue, for any events that might need a larger accommodation.

Come and enjoy the fun and activities with us! Thanks Franny!

A Cowboy’s Faith: Grain bin to texas

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.“It hadn’t been used for original purpose in many years and had become a junk catchall.”

When moving to the ranch 52 years ago, the what-then-appeared high-quality steel grain bin seemed an asset.

It served for a few years as storage for the always-very-small milo crop produced on the uphill gumbo land. Before long, farming costs were more than was being produced so the land was planted to tame grass brome.

Hog and horse feed corn-milo mixture was purchased from the elevator, hand-scooped off, and stored in the bin. That became too much work, so a trailer was acquired for hauling feed where it stayed until fed to livestock.

After being empty for a while, the bin became a storage unit so to speak. Soon, everything on the ranch that wasn’t being used was pitched into the grain bin. The grain bin became so full it was nearly impossible to shut the door.

A friend looked in the grain bin and saw something he wanted and asked what it’d cost. “Free, if you’ll take all of the rest of the stuff in there,” was the response.

He agreed and had two pickup loads before everything was cleaned out. But the bin soon filled back up with things “to be used later.”

After a half century, it was decided the bin was in the way and should be removed. Several attempts to sell it locally failed. One farmer said he’d take the bin free if he could figure out how to get it moved.

Eventually, the grain bin was consigned to an online computer auction without much optimism for any bidding. But surprising, it did sell to somebody in Texas.

“Do you know how to move it?” the buyer was asked when calling about getting the bin.

A Cowboy’s Faith: Poison ivy causes misery

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.“Be careful, that’s poison ivy on the old rotten dead tree you’re cutting down.”

Grant Carson stopped his Ford 8N tractor to advise a teenager about hazards of the green leaves encompassing the tree.

A long time ago, the community garden tiller and weekend town marshal counselled a naive tree saw operator.

The advice was never forgotten, and similar comments are heard frequently every year when people are around thriving poison ivy.

Sure enough, the next day back then there were red itchy spots all over the arms with seemingly uncontrollable scratching.

Medicated salves didn’t help one bit, but Dr. Bowers, a story himself, gave the kid a backside vaccination with red serum. The problem cleared up shortly afterward, and the same needle poke was requested on similar itchy occasions years later.

Several people in the area are now suffering from poison ivy and wonder more about the scratchy problem.

A weed specialist said poison ivy has three leaves with the middle leaf longer than the others. Edges can be smooth or coarsely toothed while the surface can be glossy or dull.

One dermatologist said about 75 percent of the population is allergic to the poison resin found in poison ivy.

Osage County Public Transportation sets itinerary for monthly breakfast and lunch trips

Hello from the Osage County Senior Center and the Osage County Public Transportation.

We have started a Breakfast Club, and we are going to every restaurant in Osage County for breakfast. The next one will be Green Acres at 8:15 a.m. Sept. 8, 2023. The next Lunch Bunch will be to Four Corners, leaving at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 22.

The ceramics class is up and going; it is $4 per class and most supplies are furnished. High Rollers is 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Home Town Health Care is here to call quarter bingo at 10 a.m. every Tuesday; come and enjoy. The casino trip will be on the Sept. 26; call now and make reservations.

Starting in September we are going to do shopping trips on the first and third Thursdays of the month, going to Topeka Walmart, Sam’s and Aldi’s. Riders need to call the transportation department to make reservations, this will take place of using the public transportation on a daily basis for shopping trips and will allow us to better use the transportation for other trips and serve more clients.

Grandparents Day is Sept. 10, and we are having a bingo with snacks and prizes for all grandparents, parents and grandchildren. It will be 2-4 p.m.; come join in the fun.

I am open to all suggestions for activities and or outings. Don’t forget we do rent out the center as a venue for events that might need larger accommodation.

Come and enjoy the fun and activities with us!

Thanks, Franny!
Osage County Senior Center Director Franny Deters

A Cowboy’s Faith: Cowboy and stallion influences

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.Most little boys were inspired to become cowboys decades ago when Westerns dominated theatres and television.

For the majority it was a passing craze soon forgotten as sports, girls, and other ventures dominated lives.

That was not true for everyone as there were a limited number who still “always wanted to be a cowboy.”

There are countless who must be credited for providing continued inspiration for life’s goal.

Foremost were parents who were lifelong horse enthusiasts insisting their son always wear cowboy boots. When they finally gave in to acquiring his own horse when he was 11 years old, the “real cowboy” goal enhanced.

Everyone with a horse was a hero as opportunities expanded through training for and becoming close friends with working cowboys.

Recent passing of world-renowned cowboy acknowledged Quarter Horse breeder-elite Duane Walker brought reflections of his many positive influences.

Tribute to Duane and his gray stallion Jackie Bee are in the syndicated “For The Love Of Horses.”

“Everybody’s friend” is the best description of Duane Walker, yet national notoriety came through Jackie Bee. He was “ahead of his time” in color, size, quality, and disposition carried into offspring.

Jackie Bee did not have showring or performance genes, or even local popularity, but importantly Duane Walker’s insightfulness of potential.

First impact of Duane and Jackie came when acquiring a mare bred to a son of Jackie Bee. The brown foal called Fella was a winner in every competition, climaxing as champion at a regional fair. As a gelding, he was gentle, pretty, and a nice riding horse.

Things are happening at the Osage County Senior Center: Everyone invited

Hello from the Osage County Senior Center and Osage County Public Transportation – where things are happening!

We have started a Breakfast Club, and we are going to every restaurant in Osage County for breakfast. The Miracle Café, in Reading, had great food. Our next trip will be to Green Acres at 8:15 a.m. Sept. 8, 2023. Our casino trip is on the 22nd of August, and we leave at 9 a.m. The next Lunch Bunch will be to Lings Chinese Restaurant, in Topeka, on Aug. 25.

The ceramics class is up and going; it is $4 per class, most supplies are furnished. High Rollers is 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Home Town Health Care is here to call quarter bingo every Tuesday at 10 a.m.; come and enjoy. Thank you Robin with Angels HH for our sundae bar – it was refreshing.

Aug. 21 is National Senior Citizen Day, so stop in for some karaoke and snacks in the morning at 10, and Plinko, cornhole and cupcakes in the afternoon starting at 1. We are just going to have fun and enjoy the day.

Starting in September we are going to do shopping trips on the first and third Thursdays of the month, going to Topeka Walmart, Sam’s and Aldi’s. Riders need to call the transportation department to make reservations. This will take place of using the transportation department on a daily basis for shopping trips, and will allow us to better use the transportation for other trips and serve more clients. I am open to all suggestions for activities and or outings.

Don’t forget that we do rent out the senior center as a venue for any events that might need the larger accommodations.

Come and enjoy the fun and activities with us at the Osage County Senior Center!

Thanks!

Franny
Osage County Senior Center Director Franny Deters

For more information about senior center activities or public transportation, stop by 604 Market St., Osage City, Kan., call 785-528-1107, or email senior@osageco.org.

A Cowboy’s Faith: College project trailer sold

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.“It hadn’t been used for an extended time, so the tractor hauling trailer was sold through an online computer auction.”

In 1971, college agricultural education construction class students were given an opportunity to build a project for their own use.

With two tractors, a 1965 John Deere 1020 and a 1939 John Deere B, they were used at both farms. It was 15 miles from the headquarters to the other location, so Dad suggested building a trailer for hauling tractors.

Somewhat proficient in welding classes, the college junior jumped on the challenge. Basic plans were sketched out with advice from the class professor and recommendations from Dad and Uncle Elmer.

A classmate didn’t have a personal project, so he volunteered to help build the trailer for college credit.

Axles with wheels and tires were acquired from a local trailer house factory. Very heavy new steel for the framework was reasonably purchased from an area dealer.

Gooseneck hookups were uncommon at that time, so the trailer was designed to be pulled from a truck bumper. A jack and safety chain with the ball hitch made hookup simple.

Shaping steel into trailer form was easy with the college’ saws, cutting torches, and welders. Classmates worked well together with professor’s guidance to assure strength of welds.

Three portable ramps were constructed out of heavy steel to load the tractors which had different wheel and axle types.

With steel work completed, there wasn’t any floor. A local sawmill operator sawed heavy native lumber planks to dimension for that purpose.

Smithsonian exhibit coming to Ottawa’s Old Depot Museum

OTTAWA, Kan. – How far would you go to exercise your right to vote? In 1858, a group of Franklin County Free Staters were so determined to cast their ballots against the pro-slavery LeCompton Constitution in the Aug. 2, 1858, election that they let nothing – not even a high creek or lack of clothing – get in their way.

The story of the Naked Voters of 1858 is one of local stories that will be explored during the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibit Voices and Votes: Democracy in America, which will be on display at the Old Depot Museum, Ottawa, Kan., Aug. 19 through Oct. 1, 2023. The Old Depot Museum is one of only six exhibit host sites across the state and the only host site in northeast Kansas.

Voices and Votes considers the many ways Americans have worked to create a “more perfect union” throughout history. Using photographs and objects from the Smithsonian’s collection and multimedia interactives, “Voices and Votes” explores the history of American democracy, the struggles to obtain and keep the vote, the machinery of democracy, the right to petition and protest beyond the ballot, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.

“Who has the right to vote? Who gets to participate in the democratic process? These are big questions we still grapple with today,” said Diana Staresinic-Deane, director of the Franklin County Historical Society. “We all have strong feelings about these questions, which makes voting and democracy hard to talk about. This exhibit gives us non-partisan historical context around which to frame meaningful conversations, something we desperately need at a time when so many of our conversations quickly become polarized.”

In addition to the Smithsonian exhibit, Franklin County Historical Society will host a local companion exhibited called “Barely Made It: The Naked Voters and Other Franklin County Stories of Democracy”, and a countywide outdoor exhibit called “They Raised Their Voices: Rabble Rousers and History Makers,” both made possible with a grant from Humanities Kansas.

Special Hours

The Old Depot Museum, 135 W. Tecumseh St., Ottawa, will offer extended hours Aug. 19-Oct. 1. The museum will be open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays  The museum will also be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Labor Day (Sept. 4). Admission is free, though donations are always appreciated.

Grand Opening

The exhibit kicks off with the grand opening at the Old Depot Museum at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, with live music from Ottawa Brass and remarks from the person responsible for all aspects of a democratic and legal election process in Franklin County – County Clerk Janet Paddock.

A Cowboy’s Faith: Gathering Flint Hills cattle

A Cowboy's Faith: Click to read more from Frank J. Buchman.“It’s summer roundup time in the Flint Hills.”

Cowboys and cowgirls throughout the area have had alarm clocks going off at 4 o’clock in the morning. They catch, saddle, and load horses into trailers in order to be ready to gather short season yearling grazing cattle at 5:45 a.m.

There were 16 horseback riders, cowboys and cowgirls, along with two mechanical carts when about 600 steers were rounded up. No stampedes or other problems that morning so the steers were penned in steel fence corrals in less than two hours.

A couple steers had been left behind as lameness wouldn’t allow travel at pace of the remaining herd. They were loaded in pickup stock trailers driven out to their pasture location later in the morning. It’ll take some time for recovery from their health issues.

Nine semi tractor cattle trailers waiting a few miles away were called upon penning of the herd. They arrived at the cattle pens within minutes and the steers were loaded for distant feedlots and additional growing.

Grazing programs nowadays are sometimes different than several decades ago. Native Flint Hills grasses are highest in protein for increased yearling grazing cattle gains early in the season.

So, cattle are often double stocked on pastures for half the season to get the best gains possible. However, other cattle are grazed full season for roundup in early fall. They will weigh more at gathering time but will not have put pounds on as efficiently as the short season cattle.

Vietnam gunship crash survivors: We’re still here because of our hero

An AC-119G Shadow flying over Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, in 1969. Public domain photo.

Many heroes among us often go unrecognized for their acts of heroism. Such as it is for a former Air Force sergeant who saved two of his crewmates after an AC119G gunship crashed near Saigon in 1969.

Bill Slater, a former Air Force staff sergeant, now from Somerville, S.C., wants his former crewmate to know he will forever consider him a hero. Slater recently contacted Osage County News to tell about the hero who saved his and a crewmate’s lives.

Slater was the head gunner of a crew of 10 flying a night mission on AC119G Shadow 76, on Oct. 11, 1969, out of Tan Son Nhut Air Base, at Saigon, South Vietnam. Only three crew members survived when the plane crashed into a rice paddy and plowed into a residence not far from the end of the runway: Slater, A1C Gale “Pat” Jones, and Sgt. John Lelle, who now lives in Quenemo, Kan.

Slater and Jones give credit to Lelle for saving their lives.

“John saved both of us,” Slater said. “John came back for me, but couldn’t get to me. Pat hollered for help and John pulled him out. I was able to get on top of the wreckage and then John carried me away from the plane.”

Seven people on the plane were killed, Maj. Richard Knapic, Maj. Moses Lopes Alves, Maj. Jerome James Rice, Capt. John Hooper Hathaway, SSgt. Abraham Lincoln Moore, SSgt. Ellsworth Smith Bradford of the 600th Photo Squadron, and Vietnamese Air Force interpreter Lt. Biu Kien. A Vietnamese civilian was also killed when the crash hit a house.

Slater and Lelle were gunners on the flight; Jones was the illuminator operator. The AC119G gunships such as Shadow 76 were formerly built as cargo planes known as “Flying Boxcars”, but the Air Force had retrofitted the twin-engine aircraft into a gunship capable of carrying large amounts of ammunition along with crew and passengers.

The Shadow squadron was known for its nighttime missions and ability to light up a target area with flares and powerful spotlights. With its 7.62 “mini-guns”, it could rain down a hailstorm of rounds “every three inches and 50 yards wide” according to an article in the April 1968 issue of The Air Reservist, the official magazine of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve at the time. The 17th Special Operations Squadron motto was, “Deny him the dark,” which refers to the AC119G gunships’ ability to spot the enemy.

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