Two roads diverged

Most Americans who are older than 60 and attended public schools are familiar with Robert Frost's poem "The Road Less Traveled". It begins:

July 24, 2011 | Nat Harwell | News Columnists

I remember the sunrise on a crisp, cold Tuesday some 25 years ago. My wife and I were both teaching at old Sharp Middle School, and were renting one of our fondest memories at 6107 Floyd St., next door to one of the grandest couples who ever graced Covington, the late Charlie and Audrey Smith. My wife had already gone to school in our 1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88, the springs of which had long since ...

July 10, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Harwell: America's great battlefield

July 4 always brings pause for serious contemplation. The obvious question is how it was that a ragtag band of colonists managed to actually win independence from England. But as every native Southerner should know, the July 4 weekend also marks the anniversary of the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. How the Yankees, who up until then had suffered defeat after embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Rebels, could win the ...

July 03, 2011 | Nat Harwell | News Columnists

Close Calls

I was born in 1951, exactly one week after President Harry S Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur and promoted Lieutenant-General Matthew Ridgway to Supreme Commander, Korea.

June 26, 2011 | Nat Harwell | News Columnists

Harwell: Father’s Day

The touching and, perhaps, true story regarding the origination of Father's Day celebrations in America goes back to the little town of Fairmont, W.Va. There, at the behest of a Mrs. Grace Golden, a ceremony was held on July 5, 1908 honoring some 210 fathers who had been tragically lost in the Monongah Mining Disaster of December 6, 1907.

June 18, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Gather weapons and ammo

Gather 'round, readers, and you shall hear a corollary to Sarah Palin's butchered tale of Paul Revere. The former Alaska governor opined that the famous ride was to warn those in power - the British - of an uprising.

June 12, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

History replete with improbabilities

I can be predictable in my columns. December typically features a re-examination of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; the Battle of the Bulge bears retelling later that month. Early July's focus is Gettysburg and Independence Day. This column, the first for June, presents a difficult choice between two awesome examples of American courage, determination and tenacity. One is Operation Overlord, the 1944 Allied invasion at Normandy, France, better known as D-Day. The other is ...

June 05, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Five tales of honor for Memorial Day

Seems the older I get, the faster time flies by. How is it that this year's Memorial Day is upon us? Last year's commemoration of America's most poignant day of remembrances seems like just yesterday.

May 29, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Where’s Lester when I need him?

I'll never forget Lester Maddox, 75th governor of Georgia, presiding in that capacity from 1967-1971. 'Twould be presumptuous to speak for everyone else, but I can't help but think that anyone who actually met the man at more than a superficial political meet-and-greet would agree.

May 15, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Harwell: Definitely a week to celebrate

One can only imagine the joy in Munchkin Land when Dorothy's house dropped out of the sky and killed the Wicked Witch of the East. No longer did the innocent little people in Hollywood's magnificent 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz" have to live in dread of the evil one. "Ding dong, the witch is dead!" they sang as they danced with glee.

May 07, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

America has no time for more silliness

Last week the White House released a long-form official Hawaiian birth certificate purporting to lay to rest ongoing controversy regarding Barack Hussein Obama II's qualification by birth to fill the office of president of The United States of America. At the heart of the matter has been rampant speculation that the conditions of the birth of the 44th president did not satisfy requirements set forth in the supreme law of the land, The Constitution of ...

May 01, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Harwell: You can't make this stuff up

Settle back friends, 'cause I'm about to tell you a story that may leave you slack-jawed and dumbfounded.

April 23, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Revere, Doolittle, Yamamoto and me

Upon occasion, when meeting someone for the first time, I've fielded queries about my last name. A knowledgeable baseball fan, for instance, might ask if I were related to the late, great Ernie Harwell of Detroit Tigers broadcasting fame.

April 17, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Harwell: Never the Twain shall meet political correctness

A great American author by the name of Samuel Clemens has been in the news a lot recently. Quite a while ago, under his more popularly known monicker of Mark Twain, Clemens wrote a tome about a couple of kids named Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Now, some book publisher in Alabama has decided to print copies of the American literary classic, but is leaving out a racial slur in order to be more politically correct in 2011.

April 09, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

Abolish education departments

It's time to abolish the Federal Department of Education, along with the Georgia Department of Education. Our President bemoans how American students have fallen behind the rest of the world. And it's a fact that Georgia's public schools consistently rank near the bottom of the 50 states. We could save billions of dollars by abolishing the U. S. Department of Education, and Georgia's.

April 03, 2011 | Nat Harwell | Columnists

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