Haskell County residents pay respects to the county's war dead Monday during a Memorial Day service on the county courthouse lawn.

'Theirs to defend' Memorial Day 2011

By Doug Russell
News Editor

When Dale Wendlandt first came to Haskell County in 1968, he didn't think much on the military, the war in Vietnam, or the sacrifices of those who came before.
A young man just out of the Army, he was more worried about everyday life than in pondering things like what Douglas MacArthur meant when he gave his famous "Duty, Honor, Country" speech to West Point graduates six years before.
But as time changed, so did Wendlandt's outlook on many things. "As the years went by, I realized I lived in a free nation because of all these people," Wendlandt said, speaking of the many individuals who died while serving in the nation's armed forces. "I used to think I wasn't emotional and things didn't touch me very much —." His voice broke. "But I'm glad to be an American." (more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)

Staff photos by Doug Russell

McCurtain survivor of 'The Longest Day'

By Karen West
Staff Writer
He was 19 years old and fresh out of boot camp when he and 33 other young men jumped out of a landing craft and into enemy fire. They were on Omaha Beach and it was June 6, 1944 — D-Day.
"I was in the 116th Infantry, 29th Division," William N. Parker said. His division was one of many that landed at Normandy that day. "We landed on Easy Green, but there wasn't anything easy about it," he said.
The Battle of Normandy, which lasted from June to August 1944, known also as Operation Overlord, began on June 6. More than 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history. Easy Green was one sector of Omaha Beach — "Bloody Omaha" — one of the hardest beaches to take due to enemy obstacles and the terrain.(more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)

Arson charged for allegedly setting woman on fire

By Doug Russell
News Editor

Most people charged with arson are accused of setting a building on fire.
Forty-one-year-old Stigler resident Toby Stanton Moss isn't most people. Rather than a building, he's accused of setting his girlfriend on fire.
Moss was charged Tuesday with first-degree arson, a felony punishable upon conviction by imprisonment for up to 35 years, a fine of up to $25,000, or both imprisonment and a fine.
He is accused of dousing 46-year-old Gayle Kaiser with gasoline and igniting it, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which was requested to assist in the investigation by the Stigler Police Department. According to OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown, police answering a 911 call to Northeast A Street on May 24 found Kaiser with burns to her body.(more on this story in this week's Stigler News Sentinel)