Thursday, December 15, 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012


Merry Christmas and
a Happy New Year to All

Greetings to one and all!
From the kid in us to the kid in you!

Dee and I have had a busy yet pleasant 2011.

April 15-17th we traveled to Sioux Falls where we attended the South Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children conference (SDAEYC) where I spoke for the second year in a row. It was a great conference.
End of April --I spoke at the Early Childhood Conference held at UW-Stout here in Menomonie, WI. to which I have been involved and presented with workshops for three years and will be there again in 2012.

The best of the year was getting to be in Madison in August for a Cognitive Disability Conference sponsored by CESA in which our friend Dr. Ashleigh Molloy from Toronto, Ontario, Canada was a presenter. We were both keynote presenters and workshop leaders. It was great and you can find our presentation clips online on our websites thanks to Dee! Like them or not! LOL

It had been several years since we three had been together other than through email and phone calls. Dr. Ash, Dee and I had a good time after the conference sitting on the lakeside in Madison relaxing, enjoying the sailboats and chatting. He wanted to bring back to his family in Toronto some Krumkake ( made in Racine) that he had eaten at a party honoring one of the Wisconsin educators but we could not find a store near us that had that delicious Scandinavian cake dessert.

This summer we had some beautiful weather and we had fun going to a few places on our own to enjoy the lakes and country. I, of course, was again at Lake Wapogasset Bible Camp teaching one day a week to young people about disabilities. I spoke at chapel and that would have been about 4000-5000 kids that heard about faith and disabilities and how to respect everyone.

In September, Dee and I were home in Kenmare, North Dakota and had a great time being with mom and dad. My dad is 92 years old last June and we got to see photos of his "Rough Rider's" flight to Washington, DC in May of 2011 with my sister Terri. My dad is a WWII veteran. I am happy he enjoyed the trip. Of course, while in North Dakota I spoke for two days at Minot State University to some special education classes where my book is being used as a textbook. ( IQ of 63, So What!)

The end of September Dee and I flew to Columbus, Ohio where we were invited and attended a church conference sponsored by two church ministries concerning disabilities and mental health within church congregations called "Widening the Welcome". It was a great conference and we met a lot of new friends. For the past few months Dee and I have been to several churches extending this "Widening the Welcome" within congregations to welcome people with disabilities. We need to welcome all and embrace our differences and uniqueness. (Please visit us at http://www.bendanderson.com/10-10%20Team%20donations.htm and support our non-profit Break Through Inc.)

We are looking forward to 2012 as we begin our new year. We have a two week tour in South Dakota in April 2012 where I will be speaking at schools, parent groups, churches and in-service training.
Dee and I hope you have a Blessed Christmas and a Good New Year. Remember to keep that kid in you! Ben and Dee

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

MY FATHER WAS HONORED TO GO ON THE ROUGH RIDERS FLIGHT

My dad at the age of 91 years old in May 2011 was honored by flying to Washington, DC for his service in WWII. I am going to post an article that was in my hometown newspaper in Kenmare, North Dakota.


RUSSELL ANDERSON WAS ADVANCING ON BERLIN WHEN WWII CAME TO END-

Posted 11/09/11 (Wed)in Kenmare News, Kenmare, ND article written by Caroline Downs.




Veteran Russell Anderson, with daughter Terri Hoskins,
who accompanied him on the final Roughrider Honor Flight
from Bismarck to Washington, D.C. “We were 50 miles from Berlin when the war ended,” Kenmare resident Russell Anderson said about his final days of service during World War II. “I never did get to Berlin. By then, I’d been on the run for so damn long, I was ready to go home.”

As one of North Dakota’s WWII veterans, Russell and his daughter, Terri Hoskins of Maxbass, traveled with the final group of 240 veterans to make the Roughrider Honor Flight from Bismarck to Washington, D.C. last May. Russell didn’t intend to go on the overnight tour and visit to the World War II Memorial until his grandchildren started encouraging him.

“I could have signed up for one of the earlier flights, but I didn’t feel like it,” he said. “When [granddaughter] Ronda got started on me, it was a different story.”

Ronda, Terri’s daughter and a business teacher in Glenburn, submitted the paperwork on behalf of her grandfather with Terri as the designated escort.

As the two made their first trip to the nation’s capital, they were both grateful for Ronda’s persistence.

Served in European Theatre
Given Russell’s war experiences, he was fortunate to become a father and grandfather. One of 10 children born to his parents in Minnesota, he was drafted 70 years ago in November 1941 at the age of 21 and first sent to an Army camp in Des Moines, IA. From there he traveled to Camp Polk in Louisiana, where he completed basic training and the necessary training to become a mechanic.

“We left the swamps and then trained in the Mohave Desert in California for three months,” he said. “The three hottest months of the year.”

Russell continued a list of his training locations, including two months in Virginia, nine months in Pennsylvania and eight months in England. “Then June 6th, 1944, came around and I went to France,” he said.

As part of the invasion force, Russell was assigned to the third Armored Division, in the maintenance company of the 33rd Armored Regiment. “We took our tanks and just drove right in the water,” he said. “When the tanks came, the bodies [of soldiers killed by the Germans] had to float away.”

Russell couldn’t make time for sentiment that day. “We got up out of the water and went up on the bank,” he said. “We had to take the waterproofing off our tanks.”

As his company worked, they discovered and captured three German soldiers in the immediate area. “They had bread loaves with green mold on them,” Russell recalled. “They didn’t want us to take that away from them. We turned them over to some lieutenant, got our tanks ready and away we went.”

Russell rolled with his tank and his company across France until August 2nd. “They lobbed a shell between me and the tank,” he said. He took some shrapnel close to his spine and was sent to Bristol, England to recover.

“I was in the hospital there about six weeks, then they sent me back to France and put me in a boxcar,” he said. “I went right back to my old outfit. Right back to my old tank.”

The company made their way in to Belgium, where the women welcomed the soldiers and cooked waffles for them. “I mean, they were good,” Russell said. “They would get mad because we couldn’t eat all of them!”

The fighting continued right up until Christmas, when Russell’s company was pulled back to celebrate the holiday with dinner. The German front eased their operations, too, but guards from both sides watched each other and Russell that day, who was out repairing a tank and taking it for test runs, which made both sides uneasy.

“After that, it was the same old thing,” he said. “It was fight, fight, fight, right into Germany. They told us we were the first ones there, but everyone says that.”

The American troops made progress as the Germans fell back, but Russell’s company ran into intense resistance three days before the actual surrender. “They told us the Germans were done fighting,” he said.

His company had arrived at a small German town near the Alps, fortified with an old stone wall. The soldiers had settled into a house for the evening but were awakened by gunfire about 3 am.

“We got out of there with just the clothes we had on,” he said. “They captured our company, but another outfit moved in and got the Germans out of there. Our company came out all right. It just lasted through the night.”

As the Germans actually surrendered, Russell’s duties shifted from mechanic’s work to guard patrol. “There wasn’t that much to do except watch prisoners,” he said. “You always had a gun on your side and you couldn’t be scared to use it.”

Russell was discharged in October 1945 and returned to Camp McCoy in Minnesota. “I had five brothers besides myself in the service,” he said, explaining one served in the Navy and the rest in the Army. The Anderson boys saw duty in both the European and Pacific theatres, as well as stateside managing prisoners from the war.

“Five of us came home,” Russell said. “The brother two years younger than me was buried in Germany.” Eventually, his brother’s body was shipped home.

After Russell’s return, he found jobs locally, but by 1950 he made his way out to the Kenmare area. “When I got to Minot, I went to the unemployment office,” he said. “I wanted work, and they said there was a couple coming in from a farm by Coulee.”

Oscar Lehman of the Coulee area became Russell’s employer for the next four years. Soon after settling into his new position, Russell attended a dance in the area and met his future wife Marlys.

“My tank’s name was Marlys,” Russell said, adding that despite his own wound, his tank merely had scars from getting hit by shells and shrapnel. “Being in a maintenance company, all our tanks had to start with the letter ‘M,’ and I’ve been stuck with Marlys ever since.”

“I thought he was kidding me at first!” Marlys added.

The two married in 1952. They raised their daughter Terri and son Ben, who now lives in Wisconsin with his wife Dee.

Grateful for the
Honor Flight opportunity
When Russell and Terri made the Honor Flight trip, they were impressed by the smooth organization and number of sights they had the opportunity to see. They enjoyed the various memorials and were impressed by the architecture and design across the National Mall and throughout the city.

Arlington National Cemetery made an impact, too. “We saw all those white gravestones, thousands of them,” Russell said.

“They told us 30 to 40 soldiers are buried there each day,” added Terri.

Russell enjoyed both the V-Mail he received during the trip from students in Bismarck schools and the response from strangers while visiting the World War II Memorial.

“People of every age imaginable came up and put a hand on his shoulder and hugged him, so many times,” Terri said. “Teenagers even. I was impressed, I really was.”

Russell and Terri also took time at the Memorial to pay tribute to Russell’s brother. “They have a registry, so we went to the information desk and got help from a guide there,” Terri said. “We found Dad’s brother’s name in the registry.”

For Russell, who returned home alone and with no fanfare in 1945, one of the best parts of the Honor Flight was the arrival back in Bismarck. “We got a real reception,” he said.

“They had every branch of the service represented,” Terri said. “There was a band playing, people were waving flags and cheering. We just want to thank the people who made this trip possible, to the ones who donated the money and the ones who volunteered as helpers.”

Russell traveled on the same Honor Flight as Jim Hillestad of Kenmare, but he didn’t know any of the other veterans along for the trip. “I haven’t seen anybody that I served with in the Army since I got out,” he said.

Still humble about his military service, Russell does take pride in his work ethic during the war. “I was trained to be a tank mechanic and that’s what I was,” he said.

Terri interjected that her father was actually the tank commander, who achieved the rank of sergeant.

“Somebody had to be the boss,” Russell explained, “but I still had to work!”

Friday, October 14, 2011

"HOW WIDE IS THE WELCOME"

On September 27th my wife Dee and I left home to have dinner with friends in Minneapolis and the next morning we flew out to Columbus, Ohio to attend the "Widening the Welcome" Conference.

Dee and I truly enjoyed our time there. This is my reflections on the conference that I had previously written and now share with you.

'About thirty-five years ago, shortly after I began the non-profit organization Break Through Inc., I previewed a movie called "Belonging". It was about an orphanage in Mexico. A young priest was out one day walking and discovered a boy that was crying. After the priest came upon him he realized that he was disfigured from being burnt in a fire. He took pity on the boy and wondered how the other children would accept him back at the orphanage. As he walked into the courtyard with the boy, the priest was hesitant but very surprised as one of the children said -"You are my brother" and the children welcomed the boy into their midst.

Three weeks ago my wife and I attended the second annual "Widening the Welcome" conference for persons with disabilities and mental illness held in Columbus, Ohio. It is sponsored by the United Church of Christ Disability Ministry and Mental Health Ministry. We heard presentations from people from all over the map and about how wide the welcome is and should be. The conference was attended by about 110 individuals from across the United States and Canada. I don't know what kind of insights and knowledge we all came home with from this conference but one thing for sure was that wherever people came from or how severe their disability may have been they were welcome. We not only experienced that welcome in the presentations and workshops but we saw it at mealtimes. We also saw the "welcome" during the evening social function when everyone was having a good time chatting, listening to music, dancing and enjoying some food.

Widening the Welcome conference took me back to the movie "Belonging" where that little boy had been burnt and how that community welcomed him with open arms.

The conference was based on the text where Jesus told the servants to go into the streets to gather people for the banquet. (Luke 14:23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.") The metaphor is to cast your nets wide to include everyone in the community.

One of the speakers talked about "Enlarging the Size of Your Tent" to include everyone and not to forget those less fortunate among us. We are called to get out of our comfort zone and include people that are not included in our everyday experiences. Widening the Welcome conference was about including everyone into the body of Christ. To welcome everyone to come and eat at the table that Jesus invited us all to come and join him.

The question is "How Wide is the Welcome” in your church and communities?'

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Awareness-from local community to global neighbors. All is good.

Summer has been a busy time for Dee and I as I continued to work at Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp here in Amery, Wisconsin. For the last 30 plus years I have been a summer resource staff. It has been an honor to be able to be involved with young people's lives over the past 30 years and to be able to be a piece of their life and shape their attitudes towards other people in a positive way.

I spoke on Tuesdays. This year I spoke at chapel using the theme "In the Midst". I had about a 5 to 7 minute chapel time to incorporate my life with a disability and trying to relate to the young people about people with disabilities that have gifts and talents.
I also had the opportunity to spend time with Teams in mission. (Tim Teamers) I would spend about 60 minutes with them and also have a dialogue with them to ask if they have persons in their life that have a disability.

We were surprised by an email contact we received the other day from a group in Kuwait called "Training Gate International"--they have a website at http://www.tg-i.com/

It is an organization that is educating teachers and others in how to include people with disabilities within the schools and community. Our friend Dr. Ashleigh Molloy (who wrote the foreword to my book "IQ of 63, So What") is going to spend a week teaching in Kuwait in October. We also received a very nice letter email from one of the organizers of Training Gate. They read about Break Through Inc. and its mission. They were interested in my book and programs so we mailed them a book. I see this as being a very important beginning in that part of the world to begin accepting and including persons with disabilities within the public school systems. We are blessed to be a part of that conversation. Thanks Dr. Ash for connecting us with that organization.

FYI my book (“IQ of 63, So What!” Going Beyond Everybody Else’s Expectations) has been received by many people around the world in at least seven different countries. (Australia, Norway, Sweden, Canada, UK, China, and now Kuwait).

I was one of the keynote speakers for a CD Conference (Cognitive Disabilities) that was sponsored by CESA 6 that was held in Madison, Wisconsin this past August 2011. Our friend Dr. Ash Molloy flew in from Toronto, Ontario as he was also a keynote speaker. It was good to visit with him as we compare notes about upcoming conferences that we may be involved with around the U.S. and Canada. We have not seen him for a few years although we keep in touch by phone and email.

This week my wife Dee and I will journey up to Minot State where I will lecture to the special education class that is using my book. This will be the second time I have been to Minot State classes. I was there in October of 2010 as I was invited to kick off disability awareness month at Minot State.

My book has been read by a lot of students as the book is a textbook at two universities. It is a textbook at The University of Wisconsin-Stout in the Vocational Rehabilitation Department and in the special education Department at Minot State University, North Dakota. Many of you may know I graduated from UW-Stout in 1992 in the Vocational Rehabilitation Department. It is a great honor for me to have them read my book as part of their classes.

It is always interesting to make connections and how connections fall into place. For Minot State it was that I was the keynote speaker for the "Pathfinder’s of North Dakota" parent conference in May of 2010. After my presentation there were many educators from Minot State who invited me to speak.

Late in September Dee and I will be flying to Columbus, Ohio to attend the Second Annual Disability Conference - "Widening the Welcome" Conference which is being sponsored by the United Church of Christ Disability Ministries and Mental Health. We will have a booth there and perhaps be on a panel discussion about inclusion of persons with disabilities within the church and community. We will be looking how churches will minister more effectively to persons with disabilities.

Break Through is continuing to seek financial support in order to provide its mission --

"Our mission is one of rehabilitation education and advocacy for and about people with disabilities to encourage and enlighten the public about people with disabilities in that they are people first and have rights and needs and that they also have gifts and talents to bring to the community"

We hope that you will keep us in mind as we continue our endeavors with a donation to Break Through Inc. You may donate on line via our website at www.bendanderson.com and click on the "Guide Star" donation link or you can mail a check to Break Through Inc.-PO Box 284, Amery, WI 54001
Your gifts are very much appreciated and will be used for Break Through's mission.

Thank you and have a nice day.
Ben and Dee Anderson
Break Through Inc.
PO Box 284
Amery, WI 54001
www.bendanderson.com