Remember their Stories
By Lucinda Klostermeier
This story was written on behalf of Art Crowther, an older gentleman who sent me a thank you letter for the story I had written in a previous catalog. Along with this letter he enclosed a story of when he was a young man in the military.
August 6th, 1945 is a day that some will remember and to others it will mean nothing. To Mr. Crowther, it meant a lot, as it was the first atomic bomb known as “Little Boy” dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima and a second one “Fat Man” dropped three days later on Nagasaki, Japan. At the time, Art was a young boy in the military and stationed with the 533rd Amphibian Special Brigade and was aboard a ship headed to Hawaii from the Philippines, when they were alerted that the first nuclear bomb had been dropped—and that their ship was now en-route to Hiroshima. In fact, they were the first troops into Hiroshima after the bombing.
Upon arrival, they went ashore to find everything had been destroyed and all that was left was ash. A town that was once 5 square miles had been completely blown away. These young men were sent to search the island. While digging around in the rubble, Art came across the only thing that had survived the tragedy: a green ceramic frog. Now remember, this is a young man, who in today’s world might have just laughed and left the frog behind, maybe even broke it. Instead, he picked the frog up and took it with him. He has to this day, packed it with him and kept it safe for some nearly 63 years.
The story touched my heart and made me ask myself “what will happen to the frog and the story behind the frog when this gentleman passes away? Will his family, grandchildren or good friends remember the story, or will it, along with the frog, be thrown away as if just an old piece of ceramic that collects dust?”
Mr. Crowther passed away last year and his frog and stories luckily have been passed onto his son Bill. I am just sorry that he was not around to see his pictures and story being passed onto the world through our catalog.
In today’s active world where we are working and spending time with our immediate family we tend to forget our elders and the men and women who served this country. We don’t take the time to stop and listen to their stories—valuable lessons in life that can help this future generation. Our history books are being erased of incidents that took place because today’s society does not want our younger generation to know about the tragedies and how their freedoms and rights were acquired. It seems we are so busy trying to preserve our own memories that the real stories are being lost when our elders pass on. Ask yourself “When was the last time I slowed down, had a cup of coffee with my parents, maybe even my grandparents or just took time to listen to a story and look at old photographs?” These people deserve our respect. They have survived the depression, wars, hardships that we will never encounter. They truly knew how to depend on each other through the good times and the bad—and they want to share these precious stories with family, friends and the younger generation so that the stories are not lost. Because we own and build Sharps rifles for a living, it seems like the appropriate time to share one such story about our parents.
In 1962, our dad and mom owned a gas station in Broadus, Montana. One afternoon a car load of individuals showed up and needed a tank of fuel. Having no money for gas, they instead offered to trade an original Sharps rifle. My dad knew the value of the rifle and so he jumped at the chance to trade. Of course, being newlyweds with bills to pay, there were many times in our parent’s life when they could have sold that rifle for money to pay bills, but they held on to it, just the same.
That’s where I come into the story. When Kirk and I were little we didn’t have TV like everyone else and we wanted to watch Captain Kangaroo and Bugs Bunny on Saturday mornings like our friends did.
In 1972, when I was 4 and Kirk was 8, our parents decided to trade the rifle for a color TV. We were so happy and excited about the new TV set, but we truly didn’t understand the concept of just how valuable an original Sharps rifle was—much less that they chose to trade it for a television set for us. Can you imagine an original Sharps rifle for a TV? This is a story that we remember and will pass along to our future families.
If you asked your children or this younger generation what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are and how they came about, would they know? Would they understand the blood that was shed and the lives lost to make us a free America and not a socialistic or communistic country? Do they know the stories about their grandparents, family and friends?
Do they understand about respect for our American flag and the singing of our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner?
Woodrow Wilson was correct when he said: “The things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history.”
Dr. Laura Schlessinger stated: “The commandment to honor parents was given to ensure that the elderly, although they may not feel wanted by family or society, are still given their appropriate award.”
It is our duty to keep their memories and stories alive, so that it can continue to be passed on and not lost forever. It is our job to teach them the lessons learned and to not hesitate to tell the person next to you, during the raising of colors or the singing of our national anthem, to remove their hat and stand at attention. If we keep overlooking the important things then our children will never learn.
We the people of the United States need to stand together and show this generation and our politicians who we are and what we represent, and that we are a strong nation that will not and should not ever be divided. I hope this story will be remembered by all who read it and that they may pass it on.
“If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” Ronald Reagan.
