YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 17
Including Surrounding Communities
www.thepress.net
Local hero earns Silver Star by Rick Lemyre Staff Writer
When Nick Eslinger played quarterback for the Freedom Falcons, he never threw a football while on his knees. For the 10 men who were with him in Iraq last Oct. 1, though, it’s a good thing he could do it with an explosive device. “I saw a hand come up over the wall and toss a grenade, which landed about six to eight feet away and rolled toward my soldiers,” said Eslinger, who at the time was a first lieutenant and platoon leader with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Without hesitation, Eslinger dove on the grenade, pinning it between his chest and the ground. He grabbed it with his hand as he rolled over, came to his knees, and threw it back over the wall a second before it blew up. “There was no thought in-
Photo courtesy of Donna Behnke
1st Lt. Nick Eslinger receives the Silver Star from Army Chief of Staff George Casey on March 16. While on patrol in Iraq last October, Eslinger dove on a grenade, rolled over and threw it back where it had come from, saving the 10 soldiers who were with him. volved,” Eslinger said by phone this week. “It was over before I knew what had happened.” Then again, it wasn’t quite over, at least not for Eslinger.
Word of what he had done spread, and on March 16 he was awarded the Silver Star, the country’s third-highest award for gallantry, by Army Chief of
Staff George W. Casey, Jr. “It’s a weird thing to be called a hero,” Eslinger said, adding that he had been raised to be “thankful and humble” and not give a lot of thought to his own exploits. “It was a big surprise that such a high-ranking officer (Casey) would take time out of his busy schedule,” Eslinger said. And what did the Army’s top commander have to say? Eslinger chuckled. “I’m not sure you can use this in the paper, but he said, ‘That took a lot of balls,’” Eslinger said. “He said, ‘You have more courage than most of the soldiers I know.’ I’m very honored.” Eslinger, 25, graduated from Freedom in 2002, and from West Point Military Academy (which he attended on a scholarship) in 2007. While in high school, he was a standout on the football
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April 24, 2009
THIS WEEK
Lowdown on spiffing up
Our spring Home & Garden Guide is bursting with ideas on how to enhance your environs.
Page 1B
Community icon passes A beloved educator and community advocate lost his battle with cancer but left a memorable legacy.
Page 3A
see Hero page 26A
Science center may be at crossroads
Installed in the Hall
by Dave Roberts Staff Writer
In one sense, the Delta Science Center (DSC) is alive and well. It’s co-sponsoring a Science Day at Big Break on Saturday morning; it co-sponsors educational boat trips on the Delta and it provides educational Delta puzzles and calendars in local classrooms. On the other hand, the DSC is experiencing an identity crisis. In its more than 15 years of existence, the board has lost half its members, a $50,000 grant was spent on a consultant with little to show for it and it still has no building – not even an office or desk, let alone the grandiose Monterey Bay Aquarium-like center once envisioned by some. In the meantime, the East Bay Regional Park District has stolen its thunder by spending millions of dollars to develop a park and trails along the Big Break Shoreline and is about to break ground on what it calls the Delta Discovery Experience, providing kayaking, picnic facilities, a playground and amphitheater near the park’s
Photos courtesy of Delta Science Center
Above left, the Delta Science Center is co-sponsoring a science day Saturday morning at Big Break shoreline. Above right, the Delta Science Center co-sponsors educational boat trips on the Delta. fishing pier. Contributing to the identity crisis for the Delta Science Center nonprofit organization, the park district is planning to construct a building next year called the Delta Science Center on its Big Break property – and it’s unclear whether the Delta Science Center organization will have anything to do with the Delta Science Center building.
Speak up!
The park district is aware of the DSC’s interest in the building, but so far it has moved ahead with its plans for the building and other park facilities without the DSC’s input. A meeting was scheduled yesterday afternoon between the DSC and the park dissee Crossroads page 26A
Their old uniforms might not fit anymore, but their accomplishments are tailor-made for immortality.
Page 19A
INSIDE Calendar ..........................23B Classifieds ........................17B Cop Logs ..........................17A Entertainment ................12B Food .................................14B Health & Beauty .............10B Milestones .......................15B Opinion ...........................16A Sports ...............................19A
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