Jeff Fortenberry: “As we Nebraskans continue to recover as a State from the massive flooding, so many communities hit so hard, so many…”

“As we Nebraskans continue to recover as a State from the massive flooding, so many communities hit so hard, so many examples of neighbor helping neighbor, leadership capacity and qualities coming forward, people pulling together around the ideal of ensuring that the communities have integrity, not of just response, but of recovery, one particular story of heroism has emerged that I would like to share. Mr. James Wilke, and he is pictured right here, was a farmer. He was a farmer from Columbus, Nebraska, near Columbus in Platte County. Mr. Wilke gave his life during the flood. What happened is he got a call from volunteer rescuers about someone who was stranded in a car fairly near his farm by a nearby creek. He jumped in his tractor without hesitation--and here he is pictured--and he sought to help the stranded motorists and the volunteers who were there assisting. When he got to the bridge that was over the creek, water had started to rush over it. The volunteers actually were helping guide him across the creek, and the bridge collapsed. Because he was in an enclosed cab, he couldn't escape. Frantically, the family and others helped search for him, and it wasn't until hours later that he was found a long way back up the creek, but actually near his home, near his farm. It was as though he was saying, ``It's okay. I am back.'' I wrote a letter to President Trump recently asking the President to present Mr.…”