[Bob Potter]

Good Morning and Happy Boxing Day!

Patton was too easy. I must be the only American who has a negative opinion of Patton due to my father's experience with him in Hawaii in the 1930's before Patton became "His Guts and Our Blood." Dad's favorite story involves Patton being told to take his boots off by Hugh A. Drum, the C-in-C of the Hawaiian Department.

The Winter War has been one of my military history fascinations ever since I saw Walter Cronkite's old "Twentieth Century" episode on it. The footage was amazing, even on the old family black-and-white TV. I have read everything I can find, even old Time and Life magazine feature articles from the time.

Glad to see Gus Adolf appear here even if briefly. He is responsible (even if he did not live to see it) for the Finnish-Swedish settlement of my home state of Delaware. If you look closely, you can still find Swedish and Finnish names around here.

Hate to interrupt your throughly fascinating history lesson, but I had a World War II question, and I ask as an historian and history teacher, and NOT to set off a firestorm. Many years ago, I read that during the war, Sweden continued to sell nickel ore to Germany. In 1992, I had a Swedish exchange student in one of my history classes. When I told the class that when discussing neutrality in my WWII unit, she got a little rattled (Johanna looked like Liv Ullmann, only as a redhead, and was very charming -- and very smart). When she called home awhile later she asked her parents about. She said, "They rather sheepshily and unwillingly admitted that it was so." Can you elaborate?

Keep up the history lesson; it's great stuff.

Bob Potter