Prince the War Dog of WWII

Howdy neighbor!

I went on to work on the Wastewater Committee for many years, learning how closely related gardens and public space and the environment are to how we manage our sewerage.

Now after all these years, and at my urging, the town is setting things up to take over the care of the gardens inhouse. I believe that this care by the Town’s Parks personnel can be more responsive and more efficient. Perennial Point of View will not be renewing a contract in July to do all this work. My lovely workers will no longer be out there on the street. This is a radical change for us! We know these gardens so well, it will be odd to drive through town and not be stopping to water or deadhead something or pick trash out of a garden. But our very small crew is looking forward to having more time to spend on our mostly residential properties, and working on growing and planting more native plants, our most favorite work.

We started last spring to train for a town garden worker to take over, but had revolving personnel throughout the spring and summer. We lost the chance to train the fall seasonal work with someone who would then take it on. These things happen. We are hopeful. We are training again now and will be right up to July. So, when you see PPV workers and town workers with their heads together in the garden, just know that all is well, all is as it should be, training and transitions are underway. We are exploring my continuing in a position as consultant/supervisor in the next year as the transition is made.

So, back to the gotcha guy — I’m sure he thought he was protecting the fiscal responsibility of the town, thinking that town employees were helping a contractor with work they were already being paid to do. But seriously, does he think town employees are roaming about, doing random things no one knows about? Seriously, how rude. Any way, it’s always about money, right? Well, since you brought it up, you should know that from the start and for 30-plus years, I have not invoiced a single hour of my own time on the town work.

And for the first two decades or so, I invoiced my workers to the town at a 40% discount off my retail rates. I’ve only ever charged delivery and han-

Today, I wanted to look back on a remarkable local veteran, that I feel most people don’t know about. In answer to the urgent needs of the Second World War, Bridgton sent hundreds of her fighting best abroad in the 1940s, many of whom served in the Pacific Theater. Oftentimes, these brave soldiers were injured, and some of them never came home again. But of all of those who went abroad from Bridgton to fight in the Pacific, island hopping their way from Pearl Harbor to Japan, only one of them had four legs. That’s right folks, it’s a dog story today; one about the best and bravest dog in all of Bridgton’s history, a Belgian Malinois named Prince, war dog in the United States Army and beloved pet of local nine-yearold Jimmy Evans.

From the Portland Press of April 20, 1943, comes the following; “Gives Dog to Army — Jimmy Evans of Bridgton, 9, does his war bit by donating his dog, Prince, for war training.

Jimmie Evans, 9, son of Mr. and Mrs. Max Evans cannot go to war, but he has sent his 2½-year-old black Belgian Shepherd dog, Prince. The dog went first to Newton, Mass., Dogs for Defense, Inc., and then was sent to Fort Royal, Va., for training in sentinel duty.”

What bravery, what patriotism on the part of young Jim Evans! Too young to serve as a soldier himself, to give up the dearest companion of his childhood, selflessly in the moment his nation called for aid! It sets an example hardly to be equaled

Unfortunately, I am not able to discover a photograph of Prince at this time, but my preliminary research indicates he should have a personnel file archived somewhere in the depths of the U.S. Military’s Records Office, detailing his dling over cost for plant material. So, my company never really made any money off the town contract — it was my civic responsibility and a choice I was happy to make. I have been rewarded with years of pride and satisfaction. Our most common comment on the street over all these years has been, “great work you guys, the gardens in Bridgton always look so nice. Can you come to my house next?”

Thanks for listening, Lucia Terry Town Gardener Perennial Point of View Bridgton

Right to Read

To The Editor: On Monday, April 24, intellectual freedom advocates around the nation celebrated Right to Read Day to kick off National Library Week. As a librarian and a believer in the importance of free speech, I strongly believe that every person should have the right to read and access any book they choose, without any censorship or restriction.

It is deeply concerning to see that there are attempts to ban books in schools and libraries across the country. Banning books not only limits individuals’ access to information and knowledge but also undermines the fundamental principles of a democratic society. The ability to freely read and access information is essential to the development of critical thinking skills and the ability to make informed decisions. We must ensure future generations have the oppor- tunity to explore diverse perspectives and ideas.

While the Right to Read Day has passed for this year, you can celebrate anytime by checking out and reading a banned book, attending school and library board meetings to defend intellectual freedom, or writing a letter to your elected officials showing your support for the freedom to read.

I urge everyone to join this important movement and support the right to read. Together, we can protect this fundamental freedom, ensure that access to knowledge and information remains available to all and that the right to read remains a cornerstone of our democratic society.

Savannah Sessions Lovell Legislative Advocacy Chair, Maine Library Association Board Member, Charlotte Hobbs Memorial Library

Let’s slow down AI

To The Editor: What is a Petaflop? This is a new term that was coined after the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Petaflop = a unit of computing speed equal to one quadrillion (1015) floating-point operations per second.

To help you understand that formula, Charles Payne, host of Making Money With Charles Payne on the Fox Business Network explained the meaning as follows: It would take one person making one calculation each second 31.7 million years to equal one Petaflop. Wow, that’s a lot of

In Ye Olden Times

by Michael Davis BHS Assistant Director

training and service record. I hope one day to access this information, and rest assured I will share it with our readers when I do.

I did find that the National Records Office retains an index of all the WW2 War Dogs service numbers, in which I find “War Dog, Prince, Brand Number A630.” I do know that after his training in Virginia, Prince was stationed in California and soon shipped out for active duty in the Pacific, and also that little Jimmy Evans received periodic letters from the War Office updating him on his dog’s performance over the following year-and-a-half. Given the time period involved, by the time the first of the War Dog Platoons entered combat service over the summer of 1944, Prince was likely a member of those platoons attached to the Bougainville campaign, though there were other teams operating in New Guinea and the Philippines, as well.

Only the last of these letters home was ever made public, in a pair of articles from the Portland Evening Express of September 21 and The Bridgton News of Sept. 22, 1944; and sadly, it contained the very news every service member’s family fears most — “Bridgton War Dog Killed in Service.” time and effort!

PRINCE, Page 3B

ChatGPT has been in the news lately and their program is taking the country by storm.

It is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) program that can write college term papers, and much more, almost instantly by using tremendous computer processing power along with AI.

In 2004, the most powerful Super Computer in the world had 20 Petaflops.

In January 2018, ChatGPT had 17,000 Petaflops.

In March of 2023, ChatGPT had 22 billion Petaflops.

AI is the 4th Industrial Revolution in the United States and it is gaining momentum at an unprecedented and frightening rate. The potential is amazing, but so is the Dark Side if it gets into the wrong hands. Experts agree that it will eliminate millions of jobs.

Did you see the recent 60 Minutes interview of Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. It is titled “The Revolution.” It is highly recommended and can be seen on You Tube as follows: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=880TBXMuzmk

Elon Musk is an advocate for Open AI as opposed to Closed AI, which is owned by major corporations. He was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, which can be seen on Fox Nation.

After observing a person for only a few seconds, AI can now create a video with sound of anyone doing anything, without that person’s knowledge.

Our government is now discussing what to do about AI. Should the government issue a pause on its development?

Would China agree to a pause? This AI is so complex and far reaching that our senators and congressmen probably could not understand it. How could they when the developers don’t fully understand how it works. I suggest that you get more familiar with AI because it is coming.

Bill Preis Bridgton

Crazy train?

To The Editor: A dangerous ideology has infiltrated our government. The transformation is so profound that my Democrat friends admit they no longer recognize their party. “They’ve gone crazy train, off the rails,” as one friend so aptly stated. I’ve heard it called ‘woke’ so let’s go with that. At every turn, this ‘wokeness’ seems hellbent on unraveling the fabric of society. It supports irrational policies, which serve to erase parental rights, violate medical freedoms, destroy the sanctity of life, denigrate school curriculums, and obstruct the right to work or get an education without an experimental jab.

The latest radicalism was revealed in Janet Mills’ announcement that Maine will extend abortion up until the moment of birth. I don’t have words to describe my visceral reaction upon hearing this news. I’ve yet to meet a person who supports aborting a baby at nine months. What kind of society condones this? And further, I’ve yet to meet a person who supports any of this ‘woke’ agenda, which includes sexually explicit material for elementary school