Hometown hero featured in TV series

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.

comments powered by Disqus

November 22, 2009

Anonymous The Press Republican Sun Nov 22, 2009, 10:42 PM EST

SARANAC LAKE — A North Country native was featured in a television series sharing vivid and personal recollections of World War II.

The History Channel recently started to air "WWII in HD," a 10-hour series broadcast on five consecutive nights, showing the horror and heroes of "The War to End All Wars."

Original color footage, shot by military personnel and individuals from all over the world, was painstakingly assembled into a collection of images supported by the soundtrack of memories of surviving soldiers and letters from the men and women immersed in the battlefields of war.

Among those featured is U.S. Army Cpl. Archie Sweeney of Saranac Lake, who served in the European Theater in North Africa with the H Company in the 39th Infantry of the 9th Division.

The profile on the History Channel Web site states that Sweeney was "a hard-working, quiet young man who worked two jobs while attending high school, tending his family farm, hunting for food and looking after his eight younger siblings.

"When the peace-time draft was instituted in 1940, Archie was the first person in his town to be called up," the biography states. "He was almost immediately shipped off to Fort Bragg, N.C., for basic training.

"The attack on Pearl Harbor and America's subsequent entrance into the war was a shocking experience for Archie.

"His simple background had left him with no real sense of the impending war and no way to understand the full scope of it.

"After he is sent to North Africa, Archie writes home to his family during a quiet evening, telling them that he 'thinks the war is coming to an end.' He has no idea that North Africa alone is not 'the war,' and it is most certainly not 'coming to an end.'"

The series is available by pre-order from the History Channel for $29.95 for the DVD format and $39.95 for a Blu-Ray version.

Shipments begin Jan. 15.