Yes, there was the former governor of Colorado and his wife, sitting at a table near the bar. And with them? George McGovern, the ex-senator from South Dakota. There was another face I didn't know, but it belonged to another famous name: author/historian Stephen Ambrose.
It was a remarkable gathering to encounter in this ramshackle bar in a tiny town that bills itself as the spot where Lewis was "Without Clark"
Turns out that Ambrose and Lamm had been friends in college, and their friendship had continued through the decades. The Lamms and McGovern were visiting Ambrose at his ranch outside of Ovando. A few years earlier, Ambrose had published Undaunted Courage, the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and he had a new project in the works: Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany 1944-45.That book would follow the crew of the Dakota Queen, a B-24 Liberator piloted by Lieutenant George McGovern -- a war hero who would later campaign for peace as the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate who took on Richard Nixon.
McGovern's long, remarkable life has been a continuous display of true, undaunted courage. And now he's preparing again to head off into the wild blue. Godspeed.
Dick Lamm has had a long, remarkable career -- one in which he's never been shy about speaking out. Learn more about his take on a current issue in our recent post "Aurora theater shooting: Dick Lamm not optimistic about reforms to gun policy."
