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thedrifter
11-18-07, 07:25 AM
Sunday NOVEMBER 18, 2007 :: Last modified: Sunday, November 18, 2007 2:04 AM MST

Without Bridger Valley man, would Iwo Jima moment exist?

By DAVID MIRHADI
Star-Tribune staff writer

It is a moment that is etched in practically any American's mind, whether they witnessed it in person, read it in the history books or have seen Clint Eastwood's movie about it.

The raising of the flag on Iwo Jima at Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945 might not have happened, it appears, if not for people like Harry Greene of Bridger Valley.

Greene delivered the mail during World War II, he told the Bridger Valley Pioneer for its Nov. 9 edition. On that day, he delivered the mail that carried the flag that's been celebrated in a famous photograph and on celluloid.

"We literally dropped the mail 50 feet from the ground," Greene told the paper. "We flew DC-3s and this one trip we had an extra fuel tank loaded on the plane, so we could make a round trip flight without refueling," he told the paper. "We flew from Saipan to Iwo Jima to make a delivery to the Marines. We didn't know that the flag we delivered was going to be viewed for all to see throughout time," he told the paper.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Small-town revelry

You've gotta hand it to the town of Thermopolis. Just last November, the town scored a coup with its first Taco John's franchise. The heralding of the store took up several pages of the (Thermopolis Hot Springs) Independent Record last November, with feature stories about the new local owners, the menu and the history of the "West Mex" favorite in these parts.

The paper and the town seem to have outdone themselves. The November 15 edition of the paper dedicates four pages to the opening of a Pamida store in town.

And with good reason, it seems. It's not every day that a full-service retail store comes to a small town in Wyoming.

The paper notes the super-fast construction schedule of the place, and that it is the 10th such store in Wyoming. Its name is derived from the first two letters of the company founder's three sons, Pat, Mike and David.

So we tip our hat to Thermopolis, where the sales tax rolls just swelled a bit.

Leaving their mark at the Cam-plex

Years from now -- and we mean decades, if not generations, if all goes well -- archaeologists stumbling upon a metal graveyard in Gillette might wonder who Edd and Melanie Collins were, or scratch their heads at the mention of Fire Station No. 3.

To them, the name Duane Evenson may mean nothing, unless they check the history books.

The names have been scrawled on the last beam at the budding Cam-plex Wyoming Center, where residents took chalk to etch their names in the steel beam topping the new center, the Gillette News-Record reported in its Nov. 12 edition.

The names will be visible -- that is, if you've got perfect vision from the nosebleed section -- as a reminder to the spirit of the Energy City.

"It's gonna be cool to come," Twin Spruce Junior High student Taylor Slattery told the paper. "You'll be able to sit in the grandstand and look up and try to find your name."

For those of you reading this in 2075, Duane Evenson is the mayor of Gillette.

Where's the fire, guys (or gals?)

Looks like someone had a burning desire to make some mischief in Gillette recently. Two fire stations were burglarized on Nov. 7, the News-Record reported in its edition two days later. Seems the stole axes, pry tools and bolt cutters and smashed windows in a different fire station in town.

Not to be outdone, some folks in Jackson with too much time on their hands -- and apparently dirty minds -- appeared to be on a vandalism spree of their own, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported in its November 14 edition. The paper reported that portable toilets had been tipped at Bronc Field and that someone had spraypainted the word "Crips" on the stalls.

Um, what's a California gang doing hanging out in Jackson?

Got an item or tip for this column? Contact night editor David Mirhadi at (307) 266-0616 or david.mirhadi@trib.com

Ellie