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Show ..I,. ?gSiMmmm,, 7. r.f t .! 1 $ jii ::: , XjI A'' I Convict of the past weeks welled up inside me. The clearest recollection I have is of the children running in from school. Z "The teacher announced it in class," they kept shouting. "Everybody started cheering and clapping." The house was in turmoil when George came The men at George's newsmen, plant had taken up a fourth collection for us. But, with much gratitude, I turned it down. I knew George would want to J do the providing now that he was free. One of the first things he did, with the kids whooping around him, was' to paint the name Swanson off our mailbox and put on Hutchison. Next We Brove to Exiine. Life seemed so strange now, and I wondered what would happen in George's old home town. I hoped somehow, the journey would make us feel like real people again. We stopped in the gracious old farm town, and I asked directions from a lady. "You're George's wife, aren't you?" she said pleasantly. "We knew he would come back some day." (Continued from page 5) "I know' George said, "but don't get up your hopes. If they fail, I don't think either of us could take it." He was right, of course, and I put the idea out of my mind. George told me how his brother, whom he hadn't seen in nearly 30 years, had visited him, and how he had discovered for the first time he had three "And the warden gave me this," George added quietly He handed me an old picture. "It's myjjnother. They've kept it in my file all this time." He paused. "If I get out of here, Hon, I want to go back to Exiine, visit her grave, see where it all started." I guess he felt he had to close the home-photogra- well-wishe- 1 circle before we really could be free. The Illinois parole board began carefully investigating George's story. They thought he might have given himself up because somebody from his past was blackmailing him. It wasn't true. Everywhere they went, they got the same answer : George was a respected man who revealed a secret life because of conscience and love of family. When parole officials visited me, I remembered what George had said earlier "In 27 years, the only thing I did wrong was marry a fine girl and father seven children,": "He never did anything wrong," I told them. "I'm a very lucky woman with very lucky children, and nothing can change that" Everywhere UPSET . .. If you've never tried ' ' it was like that. George had never changed ; that the gentle man I knew always Ji&A been like that: one terrible period of desperation had cheated him of so much. I learned, for instance, that a neighbor, Mrs. Snyder, had actually kept a light burning in a window for 26 years until her death in 1963,at age 97 to let George know he could find refuge in her home. She called it "George's light." Sounds corny to some people, I suppose, but hearing Another example was Jtmade. Jboth ofus ... misty-eyeGeorge's Aunt Evelyn Who kept an ; icebox on her back porch filled with food in case George should return and be so hunted he could not show himself. left Exiine. "I never felt so good," George said as-,Back UiomeJttsolUKas waiting for him as well as many new friends people we had no reason to fear now. "I feel I've really gotten my birthright back. It's all over . .The. parole, peop 1 rs. u half-sister- s. J phers, d; "hoped" I would have my husband home soon, Meanwhile, it seemed- - like everybody newspapers, fellow workers, total strangers was writing Illinois officials noting that, if modern justice aimed at rehabilitating wrongdoers rather than punishing them, then George -- shouldJbeJfcee; with ali his citizenship rights restored. I was holding a cup of coffee the morning of Jan. 23 when the radio announcer read: Governor Kerner today granted a full pardon to George Hutchison, the father of seven who The cup crashed to the floor. For the first time, the agony we -- at last and thanks." "Well; you've still got one problem," I told him. "You've got one wife but two wedding anniversaries. And 1 expect a wonderful present for each one' Alka-Seltz- er BRAND you jdorrt know how speedyrelican be! In ther words, no one man can act alone in regard to When you have an upset stomach there's nothing quite like Alka-Seltze- Alka-Seltze- H-BO- MB r. contains .a r soothing stomach alkalizer, ready to go to work instantly to soothe and settle upset ' stomach. H eadache, 1 00? A I ka -- Seltzer provides the effecsodium tive i a cetylsa licylate , n a com pain-relieve- r, -- pletely dissolved solution. In the first ten minutes when system you really need the of this more absorbs quickly it-- Alka-Seltze- r V r. pain-relieve- tabTake two lets before bed and wake up feeling better! Alka-Seltz- er certain "documentary" effects that might scare the devil out of the literal-minde- d and no doubt will fuel up crusaders. Fiction : A deranged Air Force general decides the Communist conspiracy is winning out, and he alone must take action by ordering his nuclear bombers to Russia. Fact: The Air Force realizes the responsibility for nuclear weapons must rest in the hands of stable persons. It constantly screens personnel for signs of "cracking up." In 1962, for example, 1,296 persons were relieved of duty on nuclear assignments because of emotional illness, marital problems, and similar difficulties. Still, as the movie so other precautions have says, there could be "one slip-up,been taken Fiction: The. general, on his own authority, transmits an attack message to his bombers. They assume he is act ing on order from the President of the United States the only person authorized to command the expenditure of nuclear weapons and proceed to attack Russia. Fact : Two points 1 ) Bombers attack only upon receipt of a coded voice message which would be authenticated by officers at each of several levels of command. 2) The Air Force follows the "two-man- " rule: just as it takes at least two men to activate a bomb, it also requires at least two responsible individuals to authenticate any bombing order. "Ban-the-Bom- ... 1 b" w make A point of separating fact from fiction ? Well, many people, particularly overseas, have been con viKd "by CpjnmUnlit propiga warmongers. In contrast to these movies, facts prove that actually the U. S. has takeV every conceivable precaution to prevent an accidental war. I wonder whether we can say the same about the Russians and their allies. Secondly, there is an idea that nuclear weapons are inevitably suicidal rather than a safeguard. For 18 years, however, the free world has remained free simply because the Communists feared our nuclear-deterrestrength. do. what still would But to the free world if happen They Americans threw away their without foolproof assurance that others would do the same? So, "Fail Safe' "Strangelove," and "Seven Days" are great thrillers. Just remember, though, 'that like most thrillers, they rely not on fact but on man's flightful and " SPEEDY IS ITS MIDDLE NAME nuclear weapons. till another movie, "Seven Days in May," has the military, "elite" trying to overthrow the government. This plot simply substitutes the traditions of, say, some banana republic for our basic history in which the American military has never defied elected authority after a decision has been made. On the other hand, appointed U.S. officials unfortunately have usurped the functions of men in. uniform all too often. i (Continued from page 2), Family Weekly, Jnn$ 28, 1961, Hy nt bs - frightful fancy. |