Bill Morem

Some columns take longer to gestate than others. This one, for example, had its genesis about a year ago when I first talked with Lt. Col. Nicole Balliet while she was the garrison commander of Contingency Base Adder in Iraq.

Without question we’ve had a cold winter so far, and it’s in that light that I can’t help but wonder and worry about those who are going without in our community — homeless mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children. The down-and-outs, the mentally ill, the foreclosed upon whose defense against the elements may only be a bridge over their heads or brush along our creeks.

In the interest of sharing something that I ran across while looking for something else, I found a speech that President Harry Truman delivered on Nov. 3, 1949, in St. Paul, Minn.