*State AP Wire

Jutta Schreiner’s childhood was filled with brainwashing, war and faith in the Nazi Party.

As a 9-year-old German girl, she survived the British Royal Air Force’s attack on a German city, her hometown, Lubeck. About that time, she enrolled early in Hitler Youth and three years later, as the war was ending, she helped her mother destroy the last traces of her father’s existence and ties with the Nazi Party.

Ms. Schreiner, now 77 with her white, wispy hair and frail stature, says it was for safety – an effort to protect the family from association with the Nazis if her father ever came home from the war.

Her book, “The Signature Call,” shares snippets of surviving the war – stealing coal, hiding from airstrikes, joining Hitler Youth, and the day her father returned from the war.

She clasps her fragile hands under her chin and peacefully re-enacts her stories’ introduction. “These are war stories that happened in the second World War that I lived through.”

Continue reading “ET Woman Shares Stories Of WWII”

RUSK – Passersby purchasing stamps and mailing parcels discretely step around a rickety ladder blocking the front window to the post office in Rusk.

Postmaster Ron Williams nervously holds the ladder steady and says, “I don’t have the authority to let you be doing this.”

From the top step, brandishing a rag soaked in lacquer thinner, Nathan Zakheim gives his assurance: “It’s ok; I’m just like a doctor examining a patient.”

He dabs the cloth against a painted denim leg.

“I’m just trying to see what’s going on here,” he says.

Continue reading “Artist’s Son Works To Restore Historic Mural”

With his white beard and hefty size, Tom Sorrels often is mistaken for Santa Claus.

This summer, he was leaving a Mexican restaurant when a little girl told him he looked like Santa.

The remark left an impression, and that led to him dressing the part and helping the big guy from the North Pole during the holiday season.

Sorrels is among dozens of East Texas men who sport a Santa look not only around Christmastime but year-round or a big part of the year. Their looks garner stares and frequent inquiries from innocent children.

Sorrels said playing Santa now has become his “civic duty.”

He had previous Santa experience – a Santa internship from in the 1970s at Lamar University when he worked for a Rent-A- Santa – but had not given much thought to playing Santa since.

All that changed this summer after one child’s remark.

Continue reading “Saint Nick look-a-likes enjoy Christmas-time attention”