Thursday, October 6, 2011

PART TWO: HAROLD RUSSELL VISITS CROTON

Welcome to EverythingCroton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON. 

MORE CROTON MEMORIES - HAROLD RUSSELL VISITS CROTON PART TWO (see Part One here http://bit.ly/2jTRSzo

Our many thanks to avid EVERYTHINGCROTON reader Lisa M. who forwarded us a copy of a tattered and faded newspaper clipping detailing Mr. Russell’s visit to our village in 1948. It belonged to her grandfather and while it was in pretty bad shape, we were able to decipher this much additional information:

“HAROLD RUSSELL, the man without hands who has won two Academy Awards for his acting in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, will speak at an assembly of the Croton Harmon High School on Dec. 20th at 1 pm. Mr. Russell entered the movie picture business the hard way. During the war, he attached a defective fuse to a charge of TNT. It exploded. When he regained consciousness, he discovered that both his hands had been amputated at the wrists.

“I’ve been a very lucky guy” he says. Until his accident, he had been a paratrooper; now he became a movie star, a husband, a father, and a champion of racial and religious brotherhood.

“The guys in the wards without arms or legs” says Russell, “come in all shapes and sizes. All colors and nationalities and religions. No one has to sell them on the real meaning of democracy and brotherhood.” Mr. Russell’s talk has been arranged for by Edward Millstein, Sunset Drive, a member of the Anti Defamation Committee of the local B’nai Brith. (Next section is not readable)

“We believe that many adults will want to hear this inspiring man” said a member of the of the sponsoring organization this week.”

Stay tuned for more Croton Memories--and if we're lucky, more information on Mr. Russell's visit to Croton. To see past installments of this series:

THE CROTON STEAK HOUSE A.K.A. COUNTRY KITCHEN A.K.A. PEWTER HORN A.K.A. VICTORIAN MANOR A.K.A. COBBLESTONE INN – http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-croton-memories-croton-steak-house.html
THE STARLIGHT DRIVE-IN, parts 1 & 2 http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2011/08/croton-memories-starlight-drive-in_15.html AND http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2011/08/more-croton-memories-more-on-starlight.html

6 comments:

  1. Maybe we can contact Bnai Brith?

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  2. An incredible man. A role model then and for today. EverythingCroton is a great site.

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  3. Once again my wife and I send you our heartfelt thanks from Nevada. When we look at other pretend Croton sites, we are so happy we moved to Nevada. Then we come here and we remember why we stayed in Croton for so long and how there are still people living there who will fight to preserve all that was good about it then and now. Blessings to the editors of EverythingCroton. We are truly enjoying this series.

    John & Katy

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  4. Yes we stay despite the taxes because life can be very good here.

    As for Mr. Russell, what a great find this is.

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  5. You guys find the BEST stuff.

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  6. REALLY ENJOYED THIS. THANK YOU.

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