Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is a great honor for me to recognize a North Dakota hero who will celebrate his 100th birthday on August 20. Arnold Postovit of Tioga is one of our State's most treasured residents who has experienced many great moments in our State's and Nation's history. Raised during the Great Depression on a farm near the town of Plaza, Arnold remembers days where the grasshoppers were so thick they blocked the sun. In an oral interview in 1999, this World War II veteran shared details about his military service. Arnold graduated from Plaza High School and spent a semester at the University of North Dakota before deciding he wanted to be a pilot. This led him and a few friends to the Army recruiting center in Bismarck in the summer of 1940. With no openings in Army Air Corps units, he enlisted in the infantry and never left the 7th Infantry, 3rd Division. He trained with a mortar unit in Washington State, going on manuevers and practicing boat landings on Puget Sound. In January 1941, he was transferred to Fort Lewis and was on leave in Tacoma on December 7, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. In early 1942, he trained near San Diego for several months, which included desert maneuvers. Traveling by train to Virginia, it was in November 1942 when his battalion boarded the USS Thomas Jefferson and landed in North Africa 3 weeks later. There, he was was among those who conducted night patrols around Casablanca.…”