Latest news with #Rung
Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Richard Rung, D-Day veteran who taught at Wheaton College, dies at 100
Richard Rung was a 19-year-old sailor on a Navy vessel approaching the shores of Omaha Beach in Nazi-occupied France just after dawn on June 6, 1944. Rung was one of 160,000 Allied troops landing in Normandy that day, which marked a turning point in World War II and paved the way for Europe's liberation. As part of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Rung returned to Omaha Beach last year to receive the French Legion of Honor from France's president, Emmanuel Macron, and reflected on the horrors of war. 'D-Day was terrible,' Rung told the Tribune. 'You can't even describe it. Everywhere, there were guys floating in the water. There were guys trying to get on the beach before they were hit. It was a terrible experience.' After surviving D-Day, Run served in the Pacific Theater and took part in Allies' occupation of Japan. Back home, he became a popular history and political science professor at Wheaton College for 27 years. Rung, 100, died of natural causes on May 23 at the Covenant Living at Windsor Park retirement community in Carol Stream, where he had lived for the past 20 years, said his son-in-law, Carl Pickard. He previously lived in Wheaton. Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Rung was drafted a month after his high school graduation and received training as a diesel engine mechanic at the U.S. Naval Institute in Richmond, Va. He was assigned to work as a motor machinist mechanic on a landing craft carrying supplies, ammunition and troops. Codenamed Operation Overlord, the liberation of Western Europe was launched with the Normandy landings. Rung considered himself very fortunate to have survived the bloody invasion. 'Why did I live through this and I saw all these other guys that didn't get through?' Rung asked in last year's Tribune interview. 'I always asked the question, 'Why did it happen to them and not me?' I've never forgotten what happened there.' The Allies secured the beaches and then Normandy before capturing the rest of France and invading Germany. Rung remained in Normandy for about five months as he and fellow troops captured a large deep water harbor at Cherbourg, France, and solidified Allied control of Western Europe. Rung returned to Buffalo for a month in late 1944, and then his landing craft shipped out for the Pacific Theater by way of the Panama Canal. He served in Okinawa, Japan and also in the Philippines before being honorably discharged in March 1946. Again back in Buffalo, he worked for a natural gas company, laying gas pipelines, then attended Gordon College in Massachusetts, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1953 and played on the baseball team. Rung then picked up a master's degree in history from Boston University and taught social sciences and served as dean of students at King's College in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. In 1963, Wheaton College President Hudson Armerding recruited Rung to join the college's faculty as a history professor. Rung later moved into the college's political science department. Rung often took students on summer tours to Europe, and in 1977, he brought a group behind the Iron Curtain to Russia. 'He was a great professor, and a great guy to learn from. And he didn't toot his own horn,' saidBill Seitz, a former student advisee of Rung's who kept in touch with Rung after college. 'What I admired most was his service.' About 30 years ago, Seitz cofounded Cornerstone Academy, an alternative high school now located in Oak Park, and Seitz taught there as well. He recalled Rung speaking to his students. 'He came to my class and talked, and the students…didn't want to leave,' Seitz said. 'He was telling the stories of Omaha Beach.' After retiring from Wheaton College in 1990, Rung traveled and went on short missions trips, his son-in-law said. He taught English to students in China, volunteered for several local charities and taught Sunday school at area churches. At age 84, Rung took up painting, and he went on to create more than 50 pieces, most of early Americana scenes and historical ships, Pickard said. 'He was just a wonderful human being, with an impish sense of humor,' said Russ Bishop, 93, a longtime friend and retired Gordon College professor. Rung visited Normandy four times after World War II. On his first return upon the 50th anniversary of D-Day, in 1994, he refused to walk in the sand, fearing leftover mines of the sort that had killed and injured many of his fellow 'I wasn't going on the beach,' he told the Tribune last year. 'I said to myself, 'I wonder if they missed one mine.'' Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron presented Rung with the French Legion of Honor award at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 'For me, it's not 80 years ago,' Rung told the Tribune. 'Periodically it (feels like) yesterday.' Ralph Peeters, a Netherlands-based caregiver with the Best Defense Foundation, took Rung to Normandy for visits in the last several years. 'He was such an easygoing person,' Peeters said. 'He was always respectful to the people around him. My most beautiful memory with him was standing with him being honored with the Legion of Honor at the official France ceremony for the 80th anniversary (of) D-Day. Seeing him get this honor from Macron was very emotional for me but also for him.' On Memorial Day 2024, Rung spoke about D-Day and his service in World War II during a ceremony in Winfield. 'Death and destruction were all around me. War is hell. It truly is,' he said, according to a Tribune article last year. 'Take that from someone who was there….Let us strive to be peacemakers and, to the degree possible, to live in peace with our fellow man.' Rung's wife of 76 years, Dorothy, died in March at 98. Rung also is survived by his daughter, Judy Pickard; a son, Richard; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A visitation is set for 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Friday, June 6, followed by a 3 p.m. memorial service at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 29W260 Batavia Road in Warrenville.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Time of India
Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims to visit Adi Kailash
1 2 Pithoragarh: Pilgrims undertaking the revered Kailash Mansarovar yatra this year are set to visit the sacred Adi Kailash peak in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district. The yatra – resuming after a five-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic – will take the journey through the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand from June 30. Located at an altitude of 5,945 m, Adi Kailash is a prominent religious site of the indigenous Rung community, who dwell in the upper reaches of the Himalayan region. "The community believes that Adi Kailash was the original abode of Lord Shiva, where he meditated before shifting to Mount Kailash due to human interference," said Krishna Garbyal, a Rung activist. "The Rung people performed their religious rituals at Kailash Mansarovar but after the 1962 India-China war, the traditional route was blocked so they began performing their rituals at Adi Kailash instead," he added. The site gained popularity after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited it in 2022. Last year more than 30,000 tourists travelled to the mountain. Pithoragarh district magistrate Vijay Kumar Goswami said, "On their return from China, pilgrims will visit the Adi Kailash. Instruction and budget has been allotted to the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) to increase basic preparations for boarding and lodging. Repair and construction work is in progress at Jolingkong." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your Finger Shape Says a Lot About Your Personality, Read Now Tips and Tricks Undo This year, 250 pilgrims divided into five batches of 50 members each will embark on the Kailash Mansarovar yatra. Pilgrims will undertake the journey primarily by vehicle and will be required to trek a 7-km stretch from Nabhidhang to Lipulekh Pass. The pilgrimage will commence from Tanakpur in the Kumaon region and conclude through Chaukori and Almora, officials said.
Boston Globe
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
After Harmony Montgomery murder trial, N.H. moves to close child welfare watchdog agency
The murders of 3-year-old Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up Still, the tragic headlines continued. In 2019, 5-year-old Advertisement Harmony's disappearance went largely unnoticed for two years before her father was arrested and charged with killing her and disposing of her remains, which still have not been found. That, combined with the fact that a Massachusetts judge Amid further questions about what authorities should do differently, lawmakers expanded the New Hampshire Office of the Child Advocate's oversight role in 2020. Cassandra L. Sanchez, who was appointed as New Hampshire's child advocate in 2022 to lead a team that independently 'We did not know that this was going to happen,' she said. 'It was not mentioned at all as a potential during our budget hearing, so it came as a shock.' Advertisement There are now With a 5-4 vote on Monday, a division of the New Hampshire House Finance Committee endorsed The proposal still has a long way to go. If the full committee signs off, the legislation would advance to the full House, and it would still need approval from the Senate and the governor to take effect when the next fiscal year begins, on July 1. The amendment was among several introduced by Republican Representative Dan McGuire of Epsom, who chairs Division I of the committee. McGuire said certain 'little agencies' should be nixed from the budget, not because they are doing poorly, but just because the state must find ways to reduce spending where it can. 'We need the money,' he said. 'I don't know how to put it any blunter.' Although the roughly $16 billion budget plan that Republican Governor Kelly A. Ayotte Advertisement Democratic Representative Rosemarie Rung of Merrimack said during Monday's meeting that the Office of the Child Advocate works to ensure, among other things, that children held in state-run youth detention facilities aren't being mistreated. Considering how the state is now spending millions to settle decades-old allegations of physical and sexual abuse at such facilities, Rung said allocating $1 million per year to keep this watchdog office operating seems likely to save the state money in the long run. 'It's penny-wise and pound-foolish to get rid of this,' Rung said. Sanchez said her team meets regularly with children and staff at the 'There was no oversight of that sort when all of the issues played out that have now led to lawsuits,' Sanchez said. Representative Alexis Simpson of Exeter, the Democratic minority leader in the House, said the Office of the Child Advocate has proven itself useful in other areas, too, by revealing problems and helping to shape legislative solutions. 'It is outrageous,' Simpson said, 'that Republicans are attempting to fund tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy by cutting essential government oversight designed to protect vulnerable children.' This budget cycle is the first since New Hampshire Advertisement Ayotte wasn't in the governor's office when Republican state lawmakers decided to phase out the I&D tax. But on the campaign trail last year, she A spokesperson for Ayotte did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment on whether the governor would support or oppose a budget plan that eliminates the Office of the Child Advocate. Republican leaders in the House, including Speaker Sherman A. Packard of Londonderry, did not respond to requests for comment either. As the child advocate, Sanchez has sometimes found herself at odds with Republican lawmakers, including when she spoke out last year against There may be fractures forming within the GOP caucus on whether to move forward with the recommendation. Republican Representative Sanchez said she understands money is tight. 'But I don't see the value in eliminating something that comes at such a small cost and is protecting one of the most vulnerable populations in our state,' she said. Sanchez and the eight employees in her office are far less worried about their own employment prospects than they are about what will happen if New Hampshire does away with an office that focuses on the needs of children who are at risk. 'If that doesn't exist,' she said, 'I worry what's going to happen with our children.' Steven Porter can be reached at
