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Harry History
Thank you for your Sept. 2006 article entitled “A Dawg is Born.” I share your author’s fondness for Harry the Husky. Nearly 10 years ago, I received a letter from the University informing me that I had just won the Husky Mascot Naming Contest. Today I quietly cherish each moment at Husky events when a young boy or girl proudly exclaims Harry’s name or when a smiling face, young or old, beams in the presence of our beloved mascot. Harry lifts our spirits. Harry always keeps us entertained. Harry, in so many ways, has become a Husky fan’s very best friend.
Congratulations and happy birthday Harry. With the involvement of students like Lee Harris who have been an integral part of the Husky tradition, we all know that Harry will stay forever young, either in human or Dawg years.
Kevin Chang, ’95, ’97, ’05
Seattle
Tragedy Times Four
The “Alumnotes” from September 2006 are shocking and tragic. Three highlighted windows … recount senseless and violent deaths of four women—three murdered by gunshots, one a suicide. This is a dark last chapter in a magazine otherwise devoted to brightness, success and courage. All victims were extraordinary humans—devoted to the highest values of society. Under other circumstances, all might have been subjects of positive, human-interest stories. Is this what we are coming to? Is this violence a byproduct of national ideology which some describe as “Might Makes Right”—and a corporate ethos of “The Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules”?
Let’s hope UW can use these casualties to animate her students to step forward—to fill in the gaps in the ranks.
Stephen A. Wald
Indianola
Overlooking Vietnam
A memorial dedicated to the UW students and alumni Medal of Honor recipients is a wonderful testament to those who gave their lives to save others [see “Students Favor Medal of Honor Memorial,” June 2006]. Prompted by this extraordinary cause, I also began my research regarding UW students or alumni who died in Vietnam. Unfortunately, after a thorough search on Google, I found no mention in either The Daily, Columns or any other UW publication. Although “Faces from the Wall,” a website for Seattle-area Vietnam casualties is quite informative and very well done, some of the biographical backgrounds were incomplete.
My cousin, Sigfrid Karlstrom, was a 1965 graduate of the UW; a distinguished linguist being fluent in Russian, Czech and Spanish with a command of German, French and Vietnamese; an Army ROTC cadet; and a member of the UW tennis team. He died on May 25, 1967, as a result of injuries sustained in Vietnam and was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Perhaps even now, at this late date, the veterans and casualties of the Vietnam War could be honored by the UW Alumni Association in Columns. In honor of those who served, a “Vietnam Memorial” on the UW campus would certainly be a testament to those who made such extraordinary sacrifices.
Christine Renhard Stenstrom, ’69
Poway, Calif.
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