For the second year in a row, the 8th grade at DeKalb Middle School welcomed speakers in honor of their study of The Diary of Anne Frank and the Holocaust. This year, Mr. Jimmy Gentry, an Army veteran and liberator of Dachau concentration camp, returned to recount his story of a depression-era childhood in Franklin, Tennessee, and later experience as a young Army soldier. Mrs. Trudy Naumann Dreyer finished the assembly by telling how the Holocaust forced her family’s emigration from her hometown of Unsleben, Germany, to America when she was just six years old.
Mr. Gentry began by describing how rabbits, squirrels, and fish can be caught with only your bare hands. After his father passed away leaving their mother with seven mouths to feed, he and his brother caught them this way just to help feed the family. Despite their poverty, Gentry pointed out that his mother taught them to “never eat the last biscuit,” because “someone always needs it more than you do.” Mrs. Gentry proved this by example, as she would often give their last biscuit to a homeless person after the family had eaten.
Gentry also brought along a trap and pieces of fur like the ones they sold during this time to earn extra money. According to Mr. Gentry, they sold the furs to the only Jewish man he knew of that lived in Franklin, and that he knew of him as a good man.
Gentry held the students’ attention with his reminders – such as the date, April 29, 1945, to which he would return near the end of his story. This was the date American troops discovered Dachau concentration camp in Germany. According to Gentry, they weren’t looking for it, but the indescribably terrible smell of the death there hit them before they even saw the place.
Gentry described his time as a soldier as the “greatest patriotism this country has ever seen” because so many young men gave their lives during World War II, resulting in the display of gold stars in the windows of the families who’d lost sons and husbands to the cause. He himself lost his older brother, who’d helped him catch their family’s food only a few years earlier.
Then there were the horrors of war, such as falling asleep while walking, and asking your commander a question only to turn around for the answer to find him shot and killed. Mr. Gentry did not tell his story for close to 40 years, but following a Brentwood High School football game where Gentry coached for many years, a man approached him across the field.
Mr. Gentry soon recognized the man, and they both broke into tears. The man was one of the Dachau prisoners whom Mr. Gentry helped liberate. He recognized him so easily because this man had given the then young soldier all that he had as a token of his gratitude, a small box filled with cigarette butts. Mr. Gentry explained that these were considered to be quite valuable at this time, when nearly everyone smoked (and didn’t know the danger), and cigarettes were considered a valuable possession for the soldiers. He used the comparison of the woman in the Bible who gave her last pennies to Jesus – like her, this man had given Mr. Gentry “all that he had.”
This meeting, along with an encounter with a man who insisted that the Holocaust never happened, convinced Mr. Gentry to begin telling his story. Now his mission is to tell as many people as possible, so that it will never happen again. He himself was so shocked at what he saw because, as he stated, these were “just religious people” being kept locked up and allowed to starve to death and worse. As a soldier, he expected to see death, but not the deaths of so many innocent people in such a horrible way.
Mrs. Dreyer began by pointing out that there are five categories of survivors, including liberator soldiers, witness soldiers, concentration camp survivors, hidden children, and refugees such as herself. She remembers Kristallnacht, which is the “night of broken glass,” that occurred in 1938. Her family’s home was attacked on this night, and she remembers her grandmother’s feet getting cut by the glass of their windows. Her family had been successful business owners in the small town of Unsleben, Germany. After the Nuremberg Laws were passed, however, they lost everything, and the children had to stop going to school. Fortunately, they were one of the few families able to obtain a sponsor from America who had to pay two thousand dollars in order for the Dreyer family to be allowed to enter the country.
Finally, they were able to emigrate to America, only to end up having to live in the slums of Cuba for almost a year before finishing their trip. When she did make it to America she says she was relieved but frightened, and she knew no English, so she was often made fun of at her new school. One of the students asked her what she thought would have happened to her had her family not come to America, and she replied that she “would be ash.” In her younger years, Mrs. Dreyer was angry at Germany and did not ever want to return, but after 40 years, she decided to finally return to her hometown with several other members of her extended family.
She said that the people of Unsleben were for the most part very welcoming when they returned to visit, and that one man, who was about the same age as her, asked for her forgiveness. She asked him what she was forgiving him for, and he stated that he had given her a rock in a candy wrapper as a child. Mrs. Dreyer, however, wondered if he wasn’t trying to apologize for a much more significant attitude behind the childish prank, which she did not even remember. Although there were no longer any Jewish people in Unsleben, she told that the graveyard was in decent condition, with only a few broken headstones, even though in some German towns the Jewish graveyards were completely destroyed, and the headstones even used for paving stones. Mrs. Dreyer stressed to the 8th graders that the responsibility to prevent further genocide is now in their hands. She pleaded with them to carry on the message that she and other survivors have tried to pass on – that such hatred is possible and is devastating beyond belief when allowed to grow.
A retired teacher from Knox county, Mrs. Dreyer commented on the enthusiasm shown by the 8th graders at DeKalb Middle School, and she is donating an honorarium given to her by the students to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. in the school’s honor.

On Thursday, March 29, the Tennessee Department of Human Services, with USDA approval, will begin issuing D-SNAP (Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits to eligible residents of ten tornado-ravaged counties that have been federally declared disaster areas following the storms that occurred earlier in March. The D-SNAP program is the Food Stamp Disaster program approved via a waiver from the USDA, Food and Nutrition Service. The program allows households that are not otherwise eligible for the standard SNAP program to receive supplemental food assistance during a time of financial hardship caused by tornado damage.
The benefits are ONLY for eligible residents of Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Polk, Monroe, Claiborne, Cumberland, Overton, Jackson and DeKalb counties. Applications for D-SNAP benefits can be submitted Thursday, March 29, 2012 through Thursday, April 5, 2012, including Saturday, March 31.
Only residents of these counties, who sustained tornado loss or damages and wish to apply for the D- SNAP benefits, can apply. Residents who are currently receiving standard SNAP benefits can also apply for the D-SNAP program. All eligible residents are asked to bring photo identification, address information, Social Security verification, statements of income or resources, and estimated disaster expenses to one of the DHS offices in their county. Staff on-site will make eligibility determinations, and benefits in the form of EBT (electronic benefit transfer) cards will be distributed the same day. The benefits will represent up to a one-month allotment of food stamps for the appropriate household size, and can be used for up to 90 days in any authorized SNAP grocery retailer.
The following locations are DHS offices in each of the ten effected counties. They will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m, local time to process applications for disaster SNAP benefits:
DeKalb County
715 Walker Drive
Smithville, TN 37166-2028
For more information, including a list of key questions and answers about the assistance program, please visit the DHS website at www.tn.gov/humanserv or contact your local DHS office.

Anyone wanting to run for the School Board in the fifth or sixth district, State Representative, or in the Dowelltown or Liberty Municipal Elections has one week left to qualify with the election commission office.
Kevin D. Hale and W.J. (Dub) Evins III have picked up petitions for the fifth district school board seat. Boyd Trapp and Doug Stephens have obtained petitions for the sixth district position. Hale is the only one who has returned his petition to the election commission office, as of Wednesday. The qualifying deadline is NOON April 5 and the last day to register to vote in that election is July 3. The school board elections will be held on Thursday, August 2.
Dowelltown and Liberty will also have elections on August 2. In Dowelltown, a mayor and two aldermen will be elected. The seats are currently held by Mayor Gerald Bailiff and Aldermen Joe Bogle and Elizabeth Redmon. The qualifying deadline for the Dowelltown election is NOON April 5 and the last day to register to vote is July 3. Those who have picked up petitions so far are Gerald Bailiff for Mayor and Joe Bogle for Alderman.
In Liberty, three aldermen will be elected. The seats are held by Todd Dodd, Dwight Mathis and Paul M. Neal. The qualifying deadline is NOON April 5 and the last day to register to vote in that election is July 3. Dwight Mathis, Paul M. Neal and Jason Ray have all picked up and returned their petitions to the election commission office to run for alderman.
The election commission has also received petitions from State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver and State Representative Mark Pody to seek re-election in the August 2 Tennessee Republican Primary. No other Republican or Democrat has yet submitted a petition to run for State Representative. The qualifying deadline is NOON April 5 and the last day to register to vote in that election is July 3.
Congressman Diane Black and U.S. Senator Bob Corker are also up for re-election this fall.

Sixth district school board member Doug Stephens has issued a statement thanking the county commission for appointing him to the position Monday night.
“I am very thankful for the consideration of the commission and look forward to serving the county to the best of my ability,” said Stephens.
“I pray for wisdom to make the right decisions and represent the sixth district in an honorable fashion,” he said.

A Smithville man has been charged with vehicular homicide in a Jackson County accident last month that killed a Cookeville man and his girlfriend.
29 year old Randy B. Johnson is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in the death of 21 year old Brian C. Walton of Cookeville and 22 year old Kayla C. Biddy of Cleveland. Johnson was also charged with driving on a suspended license.
According to the Herald Citizen, Johnson was driving a 2005 Dodge Ram pickup and had three passengers, Kandle R. Bethcher of Cookeville in the front seat and the young couple in the back seat. He lost control of the vehicle on a curve, and the truck ran off the road, went airborne, struck a tree and landed on its top. The accident happened on Saturday, February 25, on Highway 135 near Spring Creek in Jackson County.
Walton and Biddy, who had just recently become engaged to be married, were killed instantly, according to the report. Investigators said the four occupants of the truck had been at a gathering of four-wheeler enthusiasts.
THP Trooper Darren Butler said the charges against Johnson were for allegedly being “unable to operate the vehicle safely” thus causing the deaths of Walton and Biddy. Johnson is under a $250,000 bond and he will be in court April 6.

The county commission Monday night adopted a resolution asking the Tennessee General Assembly to name the bridge over Dry Creek on Highway 70 in honor of the late Private First Class Billy Gene Anderson, United States Army.
The resolution states “Whereas, it is fitting that the DeKalb County Commission honor residents of DeKalb County who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Whereas, the late Private First Class Billy Gene Anderson, United State Army, made that sacrifice for his country on May 17, 2010 while serving in Afghanistan and
Whereas, PFC Billy Gene Anderson served with courage, giving his life for his country and the beliefs he held. He deserves proper recognition for his service as a proud representative of the United States Army, and the greatest sacrifice anyone can make.
Whereas, PFC Billy Gene Anderson selfishly gave his life while serving his country and it is appropriate that we ask the Tennessee General Assembly to honor his memory by naming the Bridge over Dry Creek on Highway 70 as a lasting monument to him.
Now therefore Be it enacted by DeKalb County Commission that the Tennessee General Assembly be asked to name the Dry Creek Bridge the PFC Billy Gene Anderson Memorial Bridge and signs be erected and maintained to permanently honor the memory of PFC Billy Gene Anderson”