Bob Dole continues to serve
As I sat in the stifling hot and crowded Allen Fieldhouse Friday afternoon my buttons burst with pride, proud to be a Kansan.
More than 13,000 had gathered to hear former president Bill Clinton deliver the initial speech of the Dole Lecture Series.
Clinton's message was great. He spoke of compromise and less partisanship in making our laws.
The two senior statesmen traded quips and clever comments, but it was all in good taste. Both men are members of the Senate Spouses Club.
My mind went back to the first time I met a seriously handicapped GOP veteran who greeted left handed because his right arm was shattered during World War II combat in Italy. It not only was his handshake, Bob Dole made an impression.
Later he became a state representative, county attorney at Russell, member of Congress, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader The world knows his story.
The KU student from Russell joined the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps and graduated from OCS, served with valor, then completed Washburn Law School while mending his wounds.
Many dwell on the fact that Dole twice ran for national office, as vice president and president, but was defeated.
Others rightfully argue that Bob Dole was no more defeated at the polls than he was when wounded in combat.
He has gone on to become a senior statesman highly regarded by the world, regardless of political affiliation.
When I go to the Robert J. Dole Veterans Hospital in Wichita for regular checkups, due to an incident in 1944 on a firebreak trail in Belgium, I get misty eyed reading the sign out front. "I know that guy," I tell myself. "And he knows me."
I attended the dedication of the awesome Dole Center for Political Science at Lawrence several months ago. Fortunately we had good seats, front and center, although I didn't wear a hat and was sunburned. I'll wear a hat next week in Washington, D.C., while representing the 99th Infantry (Checkerboard division) during dedication of the World War II Memorial. Again, we have great seats in section one. And again I'll be justly proud of our fellow Jayhawker who was the prime mover for the long overdue monument. He has done so much for the state and humanity during his long and fruitful career.
Bob Dole could have crumbled and given up following WWII, but he became a stalwart citizen of Kansas, the USA, and world.
He's not a quitter. He continues to serve. Inviting Bill Clinton as the first speaker of the Bob Dole Lecture Series was another gesture showing the quality of this Kansan.
"Thank you" is appropriate but not nearly adequate.
— BILL MEYER
