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What would lead a man who wasn’t a soldier to join the 101st Airborne Division, on invasion day, glide in behind enemy lines, strategically crash land to help secure a key bridge if he didn’t have to? The answer is to get the story. That man was none other than war correspondent — Walter Cronkite Jr.
It was my first day of kindergarten at Eugene Field Elementary in St. Joseph and I was pretty excited. Mom dropped me off, then we got in line to head to our classroom.
I had a couple of friends, but not many. My best bud was Kelly Carle. We started rousting around as we walked. I saw a small janitorial closet whose door was open so, just for fun, I pushed him in. Kelly grabbed the door as he fell, closing it behind him. It locked, the only way to get it open was to find the janitor.
Kelly started yelling and crying, the janitor couldn’t be found, and my new teacher grabbed my arm leading me off to the principal’s office. I’ve heard of this principal, meanest lady in town who liked to strap wayward boys.
My mother, Hannah Bartlett Ford, would tell me years later she was pulling into the garage when she heard the phone ring, not 10 minutes after dropping me off. It was the school. Her little Bobby Ford was in trouble and inside the principal’s office.
As I was escorted into that dark back office, I wasn’t crying. I think I was in shock. There, on the side of her desk was the strap. I’d never seen one before!
They sat me down. I looked at the principal who had a stare that could melt steel. I couldn’t swallow let alone talk. This was my first day! There was an odd silence. I glanced down and saw her nameplate on the desk, it read — Dorothea Cronkite.
Dr. Walter Cronkite Sr. was a respected dentist in the early 1900s and that was tough to become. His office and instruments are on meticulous display at the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, but to me it looks like a torture chamber exhibit.
The Cronkites lived at 15th and Edmund in the same house occupied by attorney Isaac Parker, who later in Lore would become known as the Hanging Judge of Fort Smith, Arkansas. He sentenced 156 men and four women to death while on the bench; 79 actually made it to the gallows.
Walter Cronkite Jr. was raised in that house at 15th and Edmond. He went on to become “the most trusted man in America.” His nightly newscast would calm an unsettled nation with straightforward unbiased news. The CBS Evening News was anchored by Cronkite from 1962 - 1981. Think of those times and the people: Martin Luther King, the Kennedys, Vietnam, Apollo 11 and Watergate. Walter Cronkite was there giving us facts, calmly helping us to reconcile and get through.
The Walter Cronkite Jr Memorial on the campus of Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph is a wonderful walk-through with photographs and stories that will take you back.
There is a replica of Cronkite’s CBS studio where you can sit behind his desk and calmly remove your horn rimmed glasses as he did on November 22, 1963, giving America the devastating news that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas.
We have released a great podcast on Walter Cronkite and his Memorial. It can be listened for free on our website, bobfordshistory.com.
History has intriguing interconnections if you only dig a little. Just look at this story. We’ve connected the Hanging Judge with my first day of kindergarten!
Back to the Cronkite Clan. The good doctor, heavy-handed Dorothea and Walter Jr. whose words were revered by millions nightly. This St. Joseph family not only left their mark on the world and this city, but the back of my hand, too, “And that’s the way it is!”
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You can find more of Bob’s work on YouTube under Bob Ford’s history; his podcast Bob Ford’s History, Mystery and Lore can be found on his website bobfordshistory.com
The podcasts are also on most streaming services. Bob can be contacted at Robertmford@aol.com
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