Dr. Tom Tarter

Returning now with my son Andrei from our great Green Bay adventure. Drove up Saturday and checked into the venerable Northland Hotel. Next day we walked around the campus of St Norbert College on the banks of the Fox River. Andrei was admitted there but went to SLU instead. Got to Lambeau Field 2 hour before kickoff, but next time we’ll get there even earlier. Titletown and Johnsonville Village are spectacles with live bands. Titletown has an ice skating course and two snow runs for tubing. Santa arrived on a Harley and the Grinch was everywhere. Temperature was 32F. We had butt pads for our 18 inches of aluminum bleacher. Had double cheeseburgers and fried cheese curds, and that was the low calorie option. After the national anthem, players faced the crowd at the edge of the field and knelt in prayer. I got choked up. If you watched Sunday Night Football, you can only imagine the excitement in the stadium. In 202 games with the Bears, this was the second highest scoring. This morning we took the tour of Lambeau Field and walked through the tunnel onto the field. This is a great and storied place in the history of football, and no matter what team is your favorite, I highly recommend a visit. Packers are even selling more shares at this time if you want to own a piece of it. Packers sell about 100 season tickets a year, and the waiting list is 142,000. We had a great adventure!

Hope everyone no matter who you are or how old you are had a meaningful day today. We have a beautiful, diverse, and strong country. Our country is still the envy of most of the world. Lapel pin is historic. It’s 20 years old and was sold then to raise money for first responders and other victims from the horrific crime that occurred on 9/11/2001. Thank you Kevin Sronce for this precious gift. I will always wear it on my lapel. It’s hard and sad, but wonderful, to watch the ceremonies today. Can’t wait for Mets v. Yankees game tonight. Gotta go with Mets, National league and all. Love you friends. God Bless America!

This is a solemn time to put politics aside no matter how hard that might be. This is a time to remember how we came together as a nation 20 years ago. Let’s pause and remember. Let’s share the stories. On Friday, Sept 14, 20O1, I drove 3 hours north to a medical meeting. 18 wheelers had huge flags flying. I was listening to President Bush speaking at the National Cathedral when I passed road workers holding hands at a construction site in a circle praying. I cried, and it makes me cry now. We were united for a minute, and that minute didn’t seem to last. But I believe that we are more united as an American people than we aren’t. In my daily life, I see that we are, despite the media. It’s important to be politically involved, but at this time, it’s also important to come together as Americans for another minute. God Bless the United States.

We are an average American family. In the Viet Nam era, the draft lottery favored me, so I wasn’t drafted.I was educated at a military school in 7th and 8th grades, and I loved the military. But 3 years later, I was relieved to not be drafted. As a freshman in college after that, I qualified for pilot training on tests, But weekend drill was 2 hours away and I didn’t have a car and the unit had no way to transport me. I would need to transfer from my small college in Oregon to Oregon State University. I should have probably transferred. I loved the military and would have fit in right away. But I can’t regret my decisions with all that I have accomplished in my personal and professional life. But my love of the military, because of my young life, will endure. I am fortunate to stay in touch through a private group on FB with my cadet brothers. Many served in the U.S. armed forces. I love and respect them. My original motivation for this post is the debacle which is occurring in Afghanistan. But I think I’ll just leave it here and thank my brothers who have served. The motto of my school was “Character Before Career.” I love my brother cadets, and especially those who served our country with military service.