Sunday, August 19, 2007

Brave in his own way

Aunt Florence recently visited her first cousin Grover Augustin, right, a retired rug doctor who lives in Williston, N.D. Grover is the son of Grandma Sprick's little brother, Henry Augustin. Henry raised his four children on a 40-acre farm near Zumbro Falls, Minn. During the Great Depression, Henry's family became Jehovah Witnesses, and because of their religious beliefs, Grover and his brother, Gaylord, were conscientious objectors during World War II. They spent the war locked up in the garrison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. While their actions apparently caused a bit of a rift in the family and may not have sat well with our shrapnel-pocked, combat-savvy military Spricks and Millers, we think they reflect a kind of bravery, too.

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