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Volume 111, Number 19, Wednesday, September 25, 2013
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Proud to be an American
Independent Appeal selmer mayoral debate
Local man’s incredible 45-year journey from child soldier to American Citizen By Christen Coulon Managing Editor
Thursday, Sept. 26 at 7 pm
I would like to ask all of our readers to imagine for one second that you are someone else. You were born in Germany, in 1936. The Third Reich is on the rise, and the world is about to be thrown into chaos as World War II looms on the horizon. Of course, as a small child you have no frame of reference to measure the geo-political climate of that time. As an elementary school student you are told that yourself, along with most of the other boys you know are now members of the Hitler Youth. As part of this organization, you must attend mandatory meetings where you are trained to shoot and handle weapons. You are trained to march, in step, and you are taught that one day you may be asked to fight and die for your nation. Fast forward several years to 1945. You are nine-years-old, and after years of war, foreign invaders; Americans, British and Russians are literally at the doorsteps. Germany; your home and the only nation you have ever known, the land you have been taught to love is crumbling. What would you do? Es ist noch nicht aller Tage Abend. (“Things could still turn out OK.”) -German Idiom. For V.R. “Mike” Mitchell, who recently made Selmer his home, this was his life. After weeks away from home at a training site for fellow Hitler Youth members, Mitchell did what any incredibly brave nine-year-old would have done. He resigned from the Hitler Youth and joined the German Army. Mitchell’s recently shared the story of his one-day military career as a soldier in the German Army which began in mid-1945 with a trip to a recruiting office. “I told the officer that I wanted to join the Army,” Mitchell said. Mitchell recalls that the officer laughed and told him that kids were not hired for fighting. However, Mitchell said that for the first time he could remember he lied. He told the officer he was 16. The German Army at the time was in desperate need of soldiers, so the officer just shrugged and handed Mitchell a piece of paper and told him to sign.
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BOBCATS STAND READY TO POUNCE
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MCHS matches last year’s win count after four games PAGE 1B
SOGGY START TO BROOMCORN
Adamsville drug store celebrates 50th anniversary
Staff Photo by Jeff Whitten
Thousands turn out despite early rain and park flooding PAGE 2A
Owners Jimmy Max Pettigrew and Kay Pettigrew pose at Pettigrew Rexall Drugs in Adamsville last Monday in commemoration of its 50th year in business. John F. Kennedy was president when Pettigrew Rexall Drugs opened its doors on Sept. 26, 1963. After Jimmy Max graduated pharmacy school at the University of Tennessee at Memphis, the Pettigrews knew they wanted to come back to Adamsville to live and start a business. “It is with great pleasure that Pettigrew Drugs announces our 50th anniversary. We would like to thank you for your continued trust and loyalty. We truly value the strong customer relationship we have built for the past five decades. It has been an honor caring for you and your family through the years and we hope to continue to remain a part of this wonderful community,” Kay said. “My motto has always been, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ I have always tried to do that. That works in life and business,” Kay said when asked about the secret of their success.
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