In June 2005, I traveled to Prague with my Czech professor, Míla Šašková-Pierce, to accept one of the Czech Republic’s Gratias Agit Awards on behalf of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Czech Komenský Club. Only years later did I begin to understand just how many generations were standing in that room with us.
This is the first of three reflections I hope to offer in honor of this three-day holiday weekend in the United States, and also in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States of America. On July 4, 2026, our country marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a milestone … Read more
There are moments in history that seem almost too improbable to be real. Young men working beneath the smokestacks and stockyards of South Omaha, Czech immigrants who had crossed an ocean seeking peace and stability, boarded trains eastward toward Stamford, Connecticut, not for factory work or ordinary opportunity, but to prepare themselves for war on … Read more
