Fifty years of Heritage (edition 14) Published June 17, 2011 By Mr. Eric M. White 910AW/PA YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Oh -- Each week in 2011, the 910th AW/PA office will republish a historic article or highlight from the archive along with a brief commentary. In the case of articles, we will publish exact copies of the originals, so any grammatical or typographical errors are intentional reproductions. Article 14: The endurance of liberty The gap in our archives that begins in 1962 concludes in 1967, from which we have several issues of the Nine Ten Flyer. These issues provide a condensed view of how the 910th Airlift Wing (then the 910th Tactical Airlift Group) changed during the prior several years. Army Pfc. James K. Olmstead wrote the following letter which was published in the Warren Tribune Chronicle and later, the Nine ten Flyer. Pfc. Olmstead describes his observations of an uncertain time in the annals of American history; a time when the country was divided regarding our involvement in the Vietnam War. Pfc. Olmstead shares his own uncertainty encountering sentiment against the troops that risked their lives in foreign conflict. Pfc. Olmstead's resolution regarding his uncertainty is a somber reminder of why the American Servicemember continues a more than two hundred year tradition of risking everything to ensure the US remains a respite of freedom and prosperity. These 40-year-ol d words of a US Army Soldier transcend generation, service branch and conflict. From the August, 1967, Nine Ten Flyer This letter was written by Pfc. James K. Olmstead to his parents and appeared in the Tribune Chronicle, Warren, Ohio. Hi: How' everyone? This will be short. Just heard the word on the bombing in Vietnam. I kind of wonder what will happen. We sit here talking about it, wondering. Has the time come end it? Or start it? Have our leaders taken a large step into the wrong or the right direction? I stood and watched as the peace marchers walked up carrying their signs, shouting words of insult to our leaders. Or to no one in particular, on the crowded streets of New York on April 15. I talked to them and asked, "Why?" Why march, why shout your phrases to the sidewalks lined with people, each with their own thoughts, their own beliefs? I watched as they walked, an endless stream of humanity, moving, melting into a crowd that grew and grew, even as they (those who have seen enough or haven't seen anything and went home) left leaving the ground covered with their thoughts given a short life on a piece of cardboard! I listened to the voices of their leaders, those who had the power to reach out and take hold of your thoughts, making you believe what they believed, or wanted you to believe. What will happen now? Will they rise up again in protest? Will our enemies surrender or retaliate, join together and force us into surrender, to pull out, give up and go under the will of Communism, or the leaders of revolt? If we do pull out, can our country survive? Can we go on living with ourselves, knowing there can be no peace, happy life for all, freedom, peace of mind? I can only wonder. I can also hope that there will be an end to the endless flow of strife and racial discrimination and that we will see the light of peace. I am part of America, one single element giving my service to its government, ready to give up my life in its defense, to stand up proudly to say that I am an American citizen, believing in its heritage and its Constitution wanting freedom for all, life and liberty--those beliefs that meant to much to our forefathers, to those men who fought and died so others may life. So must I stand up and be counted. Dad, Mom, this started out to be just another letter home, but I have changed ever so much in the last year. I just don't know what came over me. Do other peple believe as I do? I don't know what will happen in the future. I don't know if I'll see you soon or not. We know I may go to Vietnam, and I know that you both feel I am doing right, in my thinking and actions and that things have a way of working out. I love you both. I am crying right now because I just love you both so much for what you are and have been to me. Love, Pfc. James K. Olmstead United States Army