HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

6

As most of you know, after Millard and I were married we taught one more year at Paradise and Luray. (Millard at Luray and I was at Paradise.) After leaving Paradise, we taught 2 years in Kit Carson, then moved to Tribune, Ks.

We have had a few communications from our friends and students from Tribune, but within the last few months we have had a great time with one of our students - a very sweet little boy that took piano lessons from me. (I know his Mother made him take a bath and clean his finger nails before he came to every lesson, as he always smelled SO soap clean.) Remember me telling you about the 45 Santa's that Millard carved for a Telephone Company (actually a Technology Company - ETC - Elkhart Technology Company) at Christmas? Well, one of the recipients of one of those Santa's was Larry Howell and employee of ETC's business (Epic Touch) that is also in Liberal and in Guymon, OK. Anyway, Larry wrote our good friend's, Dian and Bob Boaldin, owner's of ETC and thanked them for the wonderful Christmas party and Santa carving by Millard Harrell. (She forwarded the e-mail to us to read.) He went on to say that he was a student of the Harrell's when he was a young boy in Tribune. He is now the President of the Liberal Chamber of Commerce. Because of our renewed friendship with Larry we have read a Tribute that he wrote to his Dad after going to Washington just a few weeks ago. This was published in the newspaper at Tribune. Larry had the priviledge of being with Senator Pat Roberts in Washington and his Tribute to his Dad in Tribune seems so fitting to put on our very own Paradise Blog.

Larry's Father's Day Tribute

6

"My trip, Washington DC became “personal”…

Each spring, a group of people representing the Liberal Chamber of Commerce, City of Liberal, Seward County and area Electric, Gas and Telephone Service companies make a trek to Washington D.C. to meet with our senators and congressmen. The Liberal delegation joins with delegations from area communities including Garden City, Dodge City, Hays, and Great Bend.

For the few days we are there, we meet with the aides and staffers of Senators Roberts and Brownback and Congressman Moran plus we have a one on one session with our Senators and Congressman. These meetings are very important to be able to visit about issues that are specific to our communities and businesses. Plus, it’s a chance to get to know the congressional staff, so if an issue arises, we know who to call! This year was my second time to go, representing the Chamber and representing my company, EPIC TOUCH, which is a provider of land line telephone service, cable television, internet, and wireless phone stores.

The visit with Senator Roberts became very personal for me. We meet with the Senator in his conference room. The memorabilia in the room was overwhelming. I complimented the Senator on it all and he said “when we are done, be sure to step into the inner sanctum” referring to his private office. After our visit, I asked the Senator if I could take him up on the offer of seeing his private office (yes, I am nosey) and he showed me through the double doors. There in his spacious office, on the far wall, was framed copies of special legislation that Senator Roberts had authored, Congress passed and was signed by the President of the United States including the pen used to sign the bill. After admiring his memorabilia, Senator Roberts invited me to sit down on his couch and he explained a device he uses as a joke when the Senator “feels he is being fed a bunch of nonsense”. We had a great laugh! As we were walking out of his office, the Senator stopped me to show me one of his most prized possessions on his desk, a bumper sticker. The sticker simply was an old quote: to err is human, to forgive divine, neither of which is a Marine’s way. We laughed, and I said, “Senator, I understand, my dad is a Marine!” The Senator patted me on the shoulder and said, “yes, once a Marine, always a Marine”.

The Senator then asked about my dad, a World War II veteran from the Oklahoma Panhandle who after the war and college, became a farmer in Greeley County, Kansas with his wife, Carol Jean and, raised four children. Senator Roberts told me about his dad, also a WWII Marine. In our conversation, we realized both our fathers had served on Iwo Jima. I told how my dad was there when the Marines raised the flag, and my dad never wanted to talk about his experiences in the war. The Senator confirmed that his father didn’t talk about his experiences, until he brought his dad to Washington as a guest of Senator Bob Dole, for the dedication of the WWII memorial. Senator Roberts explained that after the dedication, his dad started telling stories and sharing experiences. I then explained that for my father, it took a project by the local historical society, who was putting together a book on veterans and asked my dad for his story.

As my mother wrote down his stories, dad told about graphic events and what being a Marine meant to him. Since my mother’s passing, I am so grateful for the opportunity to know about my father as a marine, who chose, like many fellow soldiers, to keep the details to himself.The Senator turned and went to his desk and asked my father’s name and how to contact him. I told him my dad is Roy Everett Howell, but don’t call him Roy, he was raised as Everett and when he became a Marine, he had begrudgingly went by the Marine name of…Roy! The Senator smiled and said, I understand, I was called Charles!

6

Then I realized the Senator was picking up the phone, and dialing my dad. He simply said, “Larry, I want to talk to your dad”. I cannot explain the pride that swelled up inside me, and my tears flowed as the scene unfolded, Fortunately, I had the where-for-all to pull out my cell phone and snap a picture of the Senator calling my father back in Kansas!
Sometimes fate plays a most interesting hand, as disappointment came when my dad’s answering machine answered the Senator’s call. Fate intervened, and without missing a beat, the Senator spoke loud and clear to the recorder: “Roy Howell, this is Senator Pat Roberts in Washington DC. Sir, our country is in a mess, and we need Marines like you to straighten things out! You served your country proudly, and we need you, I have your induction papers Mr. Howell, and your country is calling you back to active service!” Then with a laugh, the Senator explained “Everett, your son Larry is here, in my office, and I just wanted to call and thank you for your service to our country!” “God bless you Everett and I hope things are well back in the great state of Kansas!” As the Senator hung up, he told me, “Larry, I want to talk to your dad; I’m going to call him back later when he is home!”
I realized, some politicians, like Senator Roberts, understand Kansas values, Marine values, yet can joke and laugh just like us! I’m not sure how many times I thanked the Senator for his call to my dad, but I know this, it was a defining moment for me regarding the pride I felt as a son of his father! My dad, a Kansas farmer, in his eighth decade of life, receiving a call from a United States Senator thanking him for his service as a Marine!
After leaving the offices of Senator Roberts, I stood outside his door and called my father’s cell phone. He was out of town for the afternoon, and was quite shocked when I told him he had a very special phone message on his answering machine. He told me, “It’s a good thing I wasn’t home, because I would have thought it was some prank and who knows what I might have said!”
Later that night at a reception for the congressional staff, one of Senator Roberts aides came up to me and, as Paul Harvey would say, “told me the rest of the story”. Later that afternoon, during a work session, the aides noticed the Senator had left the room for a while and when he re-entered, was mumbling something. The aide asked what he was saying, and the Senator said he was talking about my dad. He told the aide that he called my father and summed the call up quite simply, “Everett Howell, one hell of an American, one hell of a Marine!”
As I reflect upon the events, I realized that Senator Roberts never once asked my dad’s political party affiliation. All the Senator needed to know was that my father is a Marine, served in the Pacific in WWII and after visiting with him on the phone, summed it up correctly. My dad is one hell of an American, but I want to add just one more phrase to the Senator’s, my dad is also, a tremendous loving father! Thank you Senator Roberts, thank you Roy Everett Howell.

Larry Howell
Liberal Chamber of Commerce President

Happy Father's Day to all of our Wonderful Fathers!