Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Saturday, January 17, 2015 Moline Viet Nam Hero To Appear on Fox
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Moline Viet Nam Hero To Appear on Fox
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| Author Bill Albracht earned three Silver Stars. |
http://www.qconline.com/news/local/bill-albracht-co-writes-book-on-vietnam/article_048cddaa-2c29-5292-9d0b-3c8164665900.html
Moline's Bill Albracht and the book circuit are about to get close.
Mr. Albracht has co-authored "Abandoned in Hell: The Fight for Vietnam's Fire Base Kate,'' with Marvin Wolf. It details his days at Vietnam's Fire Base Kate and is scheduled for release by Penguin Press on Feb. 3.
Mr. Albracht will discuss the book and his experiences in Vietnam during a Feb. 4 appearance on "Fox & Friends," a talk show that appears locally on Fox News Live at 5 a.m. and is the top-rated cable morning show nationally.
It features Steve Doocy, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Brian Kilmeade, Tucker Carlson. Anna Kooiman and Clayton Morris. Mr. Albracht has yet to learn his interview time slot.
"I am excited on many fronts,'' he said. "First, that a show of this caliber feels I am worthy enough to come in and sit down is amazing. The other is the exposure for the book.''
Transcripts say that in October 1969, Mr. Albracht, the youngest Green Beret captain in Vietnam, took command of a remote hilltop outpost called Fire Base Kate, held by 27 American soldiers and 150 Montagnard militiamen.
At dawn the next morning, three North Vietnamese Army regiments -- some 6,000 men -- crossed the Cambodian border and attacked.
Outnumbered three dozen to one, Mr. Albracht's men held off repeated ground assaults by communist forces with hand-to-hand fighting, air support and a dangerously close B-52 strike.
For days, the North Vietnamese blanketed Kate in a rain of fire from rockets, mortars, artillery, machine guns and small arms, blocking efforts to supply, reinforce or evacuate the outpost.
Mr. Albracht exposed himself to enemy fire to direct air strikes and guide supply helicopters, hoping to distribute ammunition and water to his men. Wounded by rocket shrapnel, he refused medical attention or evacuation. Exhausted from days without sleep, he continued to rally his men to fend off each new enemy attack.
After five days, Kate's defenders were out of ammo and water. Aerial supply failed, and reinforcements were denied by military commanders who had written off Kate.
Mr. Albracht refused to surrender or die where he stood, leading his troops, including many wounded, off the hill and on a daring night march through enemy lines.
Mr. Albracht, later received a Purple Heart and two Silver Stars for his leadership at Kate.
Monday, September 1, 2014 Off to the Flood - 1965,
Monday, September 1, 2014
Off to the Flood - 1965
Check out today's Moline Dispatch!!! Page B3. Great shot titled "Flood of 1965." A bunch of fellows catching a ride from the Moline Water Works. You can clearly see John Delarosa, Don, Ackley, Jim Haney, Gary Allen, John Danner,Maybe Tim Cook, Duddly Blunt and Guy Dyer. There's a few I don't recognize. What a great photo!
Thank you Guy Johnson, for finding and posting this.
Gary Allen sees - Gary Allen I see...... Larry DeClerck, Malcolm Tribble,(hidden behind Larry),Bill Sheets, Bill Briesch, Jerry Gerard, ??(squeezed in the middle) Tom Westcott, ???, Jim Haney, Greg White, Don Ackley, Dave Rowell, and Gary Allen.
Monday, August 3, 2026
Thursday, July 30, 2026
But Most of All, I Remember Mama,
Monday, May 11, 2020
But Most of All, I Remember Mama
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| Gladys Parker, co-ed, 1931 - she left home to attend Normal and become a teacher. Prints of this photo were saved in the original folder from the photographer. Gladys Lucille Parker Meyer, 1913-2003 |
“I remember the big white house on Steiner Street, and my little sister Dagmar, and my big brother Nels, and Papa. But most of all, I remember Mama.”
Fiftiesweb.com
We watched TV a lot, and I remember watching this series. We have watched the movie several times, recognizing Barbara Bel Geddes as the author/narrator and future Miss Ellie on Dallas.
The series and movie were very much in harmony with Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, where the Augustana Synod had so many congregations, a college and seminary, and earlier its headquarters. We even tried to imitate the Swedish accent of those who came over from the old country.
My mother dreamed of bettering herself by becoming a teacher. She was proud of her farm heritage and physical strength. She did not use a glove playing the outfield. "Hardball," she mentioined. Many times she spoke of her introduction to teaching in a one-room country school. She had to handle all ages and keep everyone engaged and behaved. Mom often regretted the consolidation of schools, because she thought highly of the country schools and the old-fashioned curriculum.
Mom continued her education and finished a college degree at Augustana, part-time, over 10 years. She went on to earn an M.A. at the University of Illinois, where her father studied agriculture.
I remember going with her to my interview for attending kindergarten at Garfield School, a few blocks away, where she taught, once baby brother was in school. She had a long vacation from us when he was born, and I remember coming down the stairs to see her with the baby, when I was two years old.
Our house was ideally located across from Wharton Field House, still one of the largest venues in the Midwest. Whitey's Ice Cream was two blocks away, next to Dairy Creme. The Hasty Tasty restaurant was the same distance, along with hardware stores and the forbidden candy store we loved to visit. I often saw Guy Johnson on the way to school, and lots of other Boomers lived nearby.
We had great teachers at Garfield, the largest grade school in Moline. Only one teacher was a psychopath, and I did not have her, except for spelling. She went nuts on me during a spelling bee, yelling, "You don't know whether you are coming and going. Sit DOWN!" My classmates enjoyed repeating her smack down verbatim, and Mom loved hearing me imitate Miss D's distinctive rants.
I remember one student coming up to me and saying, "Greg, your mother is a school teacher and your father makes donuts. You are so lucky!" I am happy to say that Mom was loved by all her students, from the most able to the ones who needed rescuing. I was around Garfield early and late and witnessed some disciplinary episodes. More frequently, I heard the Garfield teachers speak lovingly of "their children." They wanted the best for their children and went all out to prepare the classroom and organize their materials to benefit them.
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| Garfield Grade School |
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| Garfield Arms |
At one MHS reunion, a Garfielder told me about a student who spit at another student. My mother had that boy spit into her handkerchief repeatedly. Next she rubbed it all over his face. He never spit again. After I heard the story, that same person sat down at our table. He said, "Greg, you should write a book about your mother. She was a remarkable teacher."
Mom wanted to teach at a university, but she needed a doctorate to earn tenure. She taught at Coolidge Junior High (RIP) and was offered classes for those who needed help in academic discipline. She told the principal, "Only if I can hit them." He came unglued, "No! we cannot hit students." She said, "Forget it." He found out that it was OK if each set of parents signed a statement allowing corporal punishment. They were happy to do that.
Mom really enjoyed serving as the boot camp DI, shaping students who were having trouble for one reason or another. One needed an operation and she told the parents. That was performed and he began doing well. She used her knuckles to rap students on the head, sometimes enhanced with a big ring. She may have used the trapezoid muscle pinch. A little bit pain went a long way, and the so-called problem students adored her class.
To be clear, Mom only used a little physical pain, which showed she meant what she said. At one reunion, a Garfield student from her class asked about that huge rock ring she used on him. Christina was wearing it. He said, "Hit me with it. Old times." He became an engineer because Mom's sixth grade class built a working model of the Panama Canal. Many years later he visited the Panama Canal and was excited to see it worked exactly the way their model did. "That's why I became an engineer, Greg. Your mother's class."
I was surrounded by teachers as I grew up - going to PTA, waiting in the school library at times, teachers' meetings at our home, and lots of teacher talk. I was hesitant about teaching community college students straight out of high school, but I learned how much fun a classroom could be. That led me into online teaching and many opportunities to teach all types of classes.
My boss at Glendale Community College said, "Our teachers are being steam-rolled by the students. They are letting the students intimidate them." He paused and said, "But that is not a problem with you." I thought to myself, "I learned from the best." Every so often I tossed a soft white board eraser toward an errant student and gave him my basilisk stare. My nephew said, "Uncle Greg. We can't do that in New York."
Mom was very happy to live with us in New Ulm and make the move to Phoenix. That is where I began by taking computer classes and moved into teaching at two universities. She was so pleased to hear that I made the move that was just out of her reach. But it was growing up among teachers and being surrounded by books that made that possible.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Websites and Blogs Devoted to Moline and the Quad-Cities,
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Websites and Blogs Devoted to Moline and the Quad-Cities
Moline High School Alumni
Class of 1953
Class of 1957
Class of 1959
Class of 1959 Photo Album
Class of 1961
Class of 1962
Facebook, Class of 1965 Photos
Class of 1966 Reunion Blog
Class of 1967
Class of 1968
Class of 1969
Class of 1986
Class of 1996 Blog
QC Online
All Area High School Links
Quad-Cities: Moline, Rock Island, Davenport, Bettendorf
All About Moline - From Absolute Astronomy
Captain Ernie's Showboat
John Deere Attractions
Historic Scenes of Moline
Moline Memories - MHS 66 Friends
Moline School District
Blackhawk College
Augustana College
Augustana Heritage
Rock Island County Historical Society
QC Century of Progress
Rock Island County Geneology
Penny Postcards from Moline and Rock Island County
Food, Entertainment, Media
Lagomarcinos
Whitey's
Maid-Rite
Web Cameras
Quad-Cities Online
QC Times
Quad-Cities Map
Progress 98
Superb Scrapbook of Moline Images
MHS 68 Scrapbook
Coolidge Anniversary, 1940-1965
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 Happy Birthday - Ken Berry, Moliner - 85 Years Old
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Happy Birthday - Ken Berry, Moliner - 85 Years Old
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| Happy 85th Birthday, Ken Berry! |
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| Carol Burnett had the best variety show on TV, and Ken Berry was a welcome guest. |
Responses to “ACTOR KEN BERRY TURNED 78 TODAY”
Christopher Korman says:
Video interviews with Ken Berry about the Carol Burnett Show, Mayberry RFD
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| In the Army, Spock got Berry to try Hollywood. |
When I read about Ken Berry on his website, many details about Moline echoed what others have said and I have thought:
"Ken Berry was already five-eighths of the way to Mayberry when he was born in Moline, Ill., on November 3, 1933. Kenneth Ronald Berry was the second child (joining sister Dona Rae) of Bernice and Eugene Darrell Berry, who at the time of Ken’s birth was an accountant for John Deere Company."
Early career:
"When I got the job and it took me away from home, that must have been very hard for my parents," Ken says. "But they were very supportive and it was really a thrilling experience for me. After the Horace Heidt show, I came back and finished high school in Moline. I used to drive up to Chicago once a week and take a voice lesson and a tap lesson in the same studio. But that didn’t last very long. After graduation, I went back out to California to look for work. And I didn’t get much at all."
Mayberry as Brigadoon
About Mayberry, Ken says, "It’s a wonderful place to visit and people would fantasize about living there. It’s a place like Brigadoon that shows up every hundred years. It’s a place you dream about living, but you know it’s fantasy and you don’t care."
Mayberry Like Moline
He adds, "I grew up among people very much like that -- a bigger town, but not much bigger -- and the neighborhood was very much like that and the people were very much like those characters. And it was fun for me to visit, too. It was one of my favorite half hours ever on television and that was long before I met Andy."
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GJ - My wife Chris and I talk about how much we enjoyed the 40th reunion of the MHS 66 class. She has always felt a part of my class, even though she met them after graduation, when we were at Augustana.
We have had a number of discussions with people on Facebook. The common theme is how pleasant people were to each other in Moline. It is no surprise that Ken Berry had the same experience earlier.
My father knew many people from work and from graduating from MHS. We had a lapboard where all his classmates inscribed their names with a woodburner. All his classmates seemed to be named Eric Johnson, John Ericson, Eric Ericson, John Johnson, Sven Svenson, Sven Ericson, Eric Svenson, John Svenson, etc.
Once we were discussing a local politician, and dad said, "I cannot believe he would be like that. His father was one of my teachers. His word was his bond."
With my mother in the Moline school system and my father in business, I was connected to everyone - one way or another. The kindly attitude was expressed in many different ways. When I went to Augustana College, a bike ride away, my mother's classmates were there.
The daughter of Dr. Andreen taught education at Augustana. "Are you going to be a teacher, too?" she asked. I said, "No, never."
Later I learned that Dr. Andreen left his position as a noted professor at Yale to become president of a threadbare college on the banks of the Mississippi. The little portable college, which barely survived, has become one of the best liberal arts colleges in America. Looking back, we can see how much people sacrificed to create a better life for future generations. I wonder if the same will be said about us Boomers.
I can imagine Ken Berry recognizing the fictional characters of Mayberry being so much like Moliners. I will have to write about them too.
Ken Berry's Obituary
Ken Berry (1933 – 2018) starred in the sitcom “F Troop” in the 1960s. Berry played Captain Parmenter on the Western themed sitcom for two years. He had a recurring role on the last season of “The Andy Griffith Show” as widowed farmer Sam Jones. That character was spun off to star on “Mayberry R.F.D.,” which ran from 1968 until 1971.
Later in his career, he starred as Vinton Harper on the sitcom “Mama’s Family” with Vicki Lawrence and Betty White.
See Ken Berry and other 1960s Sitcom Stars in our gallery.
He was a frequent guest star on television and appeared in the Disney movie “Herbie Rides Again.”
A talented singer and dancer, he appeared in many musicals.
Berry was born in Moline, Illinois, serving in the Army in the special services division entertaining troops where his commanding officer was actor Leonard Nimoy. After his service, Nimoy encouraged Berry to go to Hollywood.
Later in his career, he starred as Vinton Harper on the sitcom “Mama’s Family” with Vicki Lawrence and Betty White.
See Ken Berry and other 1960s Sitcom Stars in our gallery.
He was a frequent guest star on television and appeared in the Disney movie “Herbie Rides Again.”
A talented singer and dancer, he appeared in many musicals.
Berry was born in Moline, Illinois, serving in the Army in the special services division entertaining troops where his commanding officer was actor Leonard Nimoy. After his service, Nimoy encouraged Berry to go to Hollywood.
In Hollywood he is still known as the nicest guy in show business.
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