Recognition of Kalispell for your embrace of commitment & service Public Comment from Jim MartinAimee Brunckhorst
From: Jim Martin <martinjim429@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, August 1, 2022 1:02 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL Re: Recognition of Kalispell for your embrace of commitment & service
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Dear Mayor,
In anticipation of other questions you might have:
We'd love to have the presentation at City Hall (unless you have a thought as to a more approp.
location).
As to participants/attendees; heads of your local veterans' organizations, business/Chamber leaders
(particularly those with a military background &/or focus, representatives/leadership from your local
schools & higher education institutions, potentially even local religious leaders... and of course your
local news media.
As to Stars & Stripes & our storied history, heritage & mission:
In the early days of the Civil War, Gen. U.S. Grant, then stationed in Cairo, II. was just working out the
planning for what would be his famous Mississippi River Campaign to cut the south in half. Southern
troops & militia were gathering along Crowley's Ridge coming up from Jonesboro, AR. with the
potential of moving on Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi, north of Cairo; a potentially major threat to
his right flank and his strategic efforts. As a result, he sent, (at that time Col./eventually Gen.) Richard
Oglesby with 4,000 troops to cut off any advance up Crowley's Ridge at the town of Bloomfield, MO.
With only minor skirmishes, Oglesby's Illinois troopers secured Bloomfield from the Confederates &
their sympathizers & in celebration of their "victory" on Nov. 9th, 1861, 10 of those troopers (who'd
previously worked on newspapers in their communities around Southern Illinois), secured the
abandoned local newspaper office & press and printed the very first edition of "Stars & Stripes" for
their fellow troopers, and all who could read it, announcing their pledge to uphold our constitution and
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Since then Stars & Stripes has been published in various locations during the campaigns of the Civil
War, in World War 1 and since World War 2 continuously to tell the story of informed citizenship,
commitment & service by and to our service men and women wherever they serve to defend
our liberty. It's currently printed at 14 sites around the world.
The Stars & Stripes National Museum & Library & soon to be fully staffed National Learning Center
was founded at the site of that first publication, approximately 120 years thereafter, upon the
discovery of one of only a handful of those original declarations of freedom & commitment, and has
since been recognized by Stars & Stripes and the Dept. of Defense as the one and only home of the
heritage & history of Stars & Stripes.
Our efforts have expanded throughout the years until now we're communicating on a regular basis
with & exploring partnership opportunities regularly with major institutions such as the National World
War 2 Museum, the National World War 1 Museum, the National Veterans' Memorial & Museum, the
Congressional Medal of Honor Society and others while creating & curating School Character
Building programs & curricula, Community Partnership programs to complement the Character
Building curricula & programing, Commitment & Service focused Student & Community Member
Recognition campaigns, Stars & Stripes Commitment & Service Displays to be made available for
schools & institutions around the country.
Additionally, beginning this year and next we're staging events around the country to encourage a
greater awareness & appreciation of informed citizenship & commitment in the form of Panel Forums,
etc. in San Antonio, Columbia, MO., Washington, D.C. and potentially Charleston, S.C. and
elsewhere next year.
And, we're recognizing cities & communities around the nation who are actively and
energetically engaged in encouraging & promoting a true embrace of informed citizenship,
commitment & service on the part of organizations, institutions, schools, businesses and individuals in
their communities.
Your city's ongoing, consistent & innovative efforts to recognize both military & community
commitment & service to others and to encourage it in institutions, organizations, schools and
individual citizens around your community must be both recognized and lauded, particularly at a
period in our nation's history when so many are questioning our institutional or individual capability,
will, interest or even the desirability for us as communities, institutions and a nation to do so.
Be well, God Bless, Carpe Diem & Carpe Vitae,
- Jim
Jim W. Martin, past president, national outreach chair, the Stars & Stripes National Museum &
Library
On Sat, Jul 30, 2022 at 1:35 PM Jim from Stars & Stripes <martin.lim429@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Mayor,
We at the Stars & Stripes National Museum & Library will be recognizing a number of cities around the nation this year
for their embrace of informed citizenship, commitment & service.
We would love to make a presentation in recognition of Kalispell's embrace of these so important concepts and your
focus on involving the whole community in that effort.
We will be in Kalispell Thursday, Aug. 18th on a very tightly scheduled National Recognition Presentation tour and
would love to schedule a presentation to you or one of your deputies sometime between 11 am. & 12 noon.
We feel it would be wonderful if other key community leaders in this effort could be present at that time.
Be well & God Bless,
- Jim W. Martin, past president & national outreach chair, the Stars & Stripes National Museum & Library
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