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Today’s Reflections
When Rick Monday woke up 50 years ago yesterday, I’m guessing he would never have expected to become an American hero. Neither had I as my dad sat me down to watch a delayed TV clip when I was 11. I was still trying to figure out what a bicentennial was, why girls aren’t as fun as the guys, and was barely aware why my parents had shielded me from the war that had recently ended. My dad didn’t talk much. He said, “Watch this.” He explained a bit to a young kid what had been going on, then pointed at the TV and said, “That is an American hero.” Looking back, I’m sure he didn’t mean hero in the way death and severe injuries mean Hero. He meant that a regular guy, every one of us, can go out there and act based on what was in his (or her) heart for this country. April 25, 1976 was the day Rick Monday became one of my heroes.
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Food For Thought:
John O’Leary (1944–2024) was a pioneering British blues harmonica player, recognized as a founder member of the Savoy Brown Blues Band in 1965 and a prominent figure in the UK blues scene for over five decades. Influenced by Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter, he played with numerous artists and led his own band, Sugarkane.(Blues Video)
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