Stories of 1960s Alumni
 Joe Goggin (1965) |
 Collin Peterson (1966) |
 Larry Shellito (1968) |
Joseph Goggin
A 1965 MSUM accounting graduate, Joe Groggin
was climbing across a narrow ridge exposed on both sides by a 1,000-foot drop in the jungle mountains of Papua New Guinea when he slipped on a log and fell onto a nine-foot long python. “I didn’t know it was a python,” he said. “I just thought it was some brush. It was dark at the time. But someone yelled out ‘snake, snake’ and dispatched the python. It wasn’t big enough to kill me, but it could have done some damage.”For the rest of the trip, they called him “Python Joe.” Goggin was part of a search and rescue mission to find and identify an American WWII bomber and its crew missing for over 61 years. He was one of nine volunteers on an adventure sponsored by MIA Hunters, the only U.S. civilian MIA search organization.
About 15 hours after beginning the journey, the MIA team staggered into the village of Samaran at the top of the mountain. The next morning the five remaining hunters, including Goggin, attempted to reach the bomber site, another four-hour trek, led by villagers. They eventually found the downed plane, later identified as an A-20, WWII Havoc with a crew of three. The Hunters planted an American flag and said a prayer for the MIA crew, whose remains were still entombed in the wreckage.
It is MIA Hunters policy not to interfere with graves, so the group took photographs, plotted the bomber’s site via GPS and removed small pieces of identity evidence. All of it would later be mailed to the U.S. Army’s Recovery Unit in Hawaii, who would send a recovery team to the site to excavate the remains of the crew, return them to Hawaii for forensic identification and eventually return the MIA’s remains to their relatives.
The next day, the group used a satellite telephone to leave via helicopter. The journey had been "one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said the 72-year-old Goggin. “We all paid our own way and just getting there was difficult. I don’t know if I can do it again at my age. But I have a cousin whose plane crashed between Burma and Calcutta in 1943. He was a Japanese prisoner of war being transported. If that wreckage is ever found, I certainly would like to go on that mission.”
In some ways Joe Goggin's journey began when he graduated from Moorhead State as the second person to receive a Bachelors degree in accounting, in the 1960s. "I finished in the spring of 1960, and I think the first graduate in the program got his degree in 1959. But my diploma reads 1965 because of a mix-up in the paperwork." As an accountant, Goggin's future depended on making certain no such mix-ups occurred for his employers.
He worked in a couple of jobs as an accountant before joining Red Wing Shoes in 1967, He was the company's comptroller, an upper management position. He liked living in southeast Minnesota and enjoyed the challenge of being part of an American shoe company that was facing growing international competition. "We had to find a market niche and were totally determined to be better than anyone else in it," he explained in a 1995 interview. "We remained competitive because there were customers willing to pay for comfort, durability and service." The continued success came in part because of Goggin's careful management of expenses. The board of directors rewarded him for this in 1995 with presidency of the company. Under his direction, the company enjoyed five years of steadily increasing sales and profits. He enjoyed the challenge; "I had over 30 years of fun, I can honestly say I never had a day when I didn't want to go to work."
Goggin retired in 2000. Most days since he can be found at his home in Red Wing or some where around town -- when he isn't packing to look for lost airplanes or taking some other adventure.
(Portions of the above are condensed from items first published in Alumnews, Fall 1995 and Fall 2007 issues)
Collin Peterson
Careful management of finances and an
urge to help farmers have become the hallmarks of Collin Peterson’s life in the
US Congress.
Born in 1944, he grew up on a farm near Glyndon and was educated
in the local public schools. He
began his schooling at “the one room school house I attended in Elmwood Township
with my sisters and cousins when I was eight years old. Today we remember the
one room schoolhouse as not merely an educational facility of the past, but also
a community tradition. The one room schoolhouse in District 115 was closed when
I was in fifth grade with only 7 students enrolled, and from there I moved to
Glyndon to attend classes.”
After high school, He entered Moorhead
State College in 1962 and concentrated on a double major in Business
Administration and Accounting.
He graduated with his BA degree in 1966.
He had also in the North Dakota National Guard during
his college years, from 1963 to 1969.
He pursued post-graduate studies and became Certified
Public Accountant, after which he ran small business owner in Detroit Lakes,
Minnesota.
But politics soon drew him to another
calling.
He was elected to the Minnesota Legislature as a Democrat (DFL) in 1976
and served for ten years in the State Senate, where he took a special interest
in bills to help the famers and small towns of western Minnesota.
By the mid-80s, he felt ready to seek a seat in
Congress, filing for the 7th
Minnesota Congressional District of the House of Representatives.
Although he lost his first couple of races to Republican
Arlan
Stangeland, that changed in 1992, when Peterson beat Stangeland with only a one
percent vote margin.
He has since been re-elected eight times.
As a long-time member of the House of
Representatives Agriculture Committee, Peterson is currently the most senior
member of the House Committee on Agriculture and served as Chairman of the
committee in the 110th and 111th Congresses.
With his own experiences in living on a family farm, he
has concentrated his energies on helping family farmers and farmer-owned
cooperatives in Minnesota.
Most recently, Peterson has been working
with Minnesota’s senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, to obtain aid for the
state’s farming population from the USDA.
The 2012 drought conditions have threatened the famers
with ruin, most especially the small farming families.
"Producers
across the country have been impacted by [drought] conditions out of their
control,” Peterson recently told constituents. “I’m pleased to see USDA utilize
existing farm bill programs to provide Minnesota farmers with much-needed
relief,” Peterson said.
“I remain committed to ensuring
a strong safety net is in place by urging my colleagues in the House to pass a
five-year farm bill.”
And he has not forgotten his days
at Moorhead.
This past summer he met with several higher education
leaders, including University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler and MSUM
President Edna Szymanski, to discuss measures to secure the future of higher
education in Minnesota – “The importance of maintaining our state's high
standards of excellence in education is paramount.
Times have changed, but our emphasis on education
remains strong. Through our joint efforts, we hope to see higher education in
Minnesota become the model for colleges around the country.”
Larry Shellito (Adapted
from E-zine
online publication by
Minnesota National Guard, November, 2010
In October, 2010 Larry Shellito retired from his post
as Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard, a position he held since
being appointed by Governor Tim Pawlenty in November 2003.
With his retirement he closed out 42 years of military
service.
A graduate of Moorhead State in 1968, Shellito took
ROTC classes while pursuing his studies, and enlisted in U.S. Army immediately
after receiving his diploma. He was commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the
Infantry in 1969, and a few months later he went to Vietnam as a Mobile Advisory
Team Senior Advisor.
For his combat service in Vietnam he was awarded the
Bronze Star, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star, and the
Combat Infantryman's Badge.
After serving his four-year Army service, Shellito
enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard.
Over his 37-year career in the Minnesota National Guard,
Shellito served in many capacities including command assignments at the platoon,
company, battalion, brigade and division levels.
Even through all this, he found time to be President of
Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota.
After becoming the Adjutant General for the State Guard, he was instrumental in
establishing the state's "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" program, which is now the
foundation of a national program to reintegrate National Guard and Reserve
military service members following deployments.
Soon after, he announced his decision to retire, stating
that he wanted to spend his last weeks in maintaining “the readiness that our
fellow citizens have come to expect of the Minnesota National Guard and ensuring
that our nation-leading "˜Beyond the Yellow Ribbon' program is well-positioned
for a sustainable future.
I am extremely proud of the Minnesota National Guard and
am honored to have had the chance to serve."
"General Shellito has been a thoughtful, positive and inspiring leader for the Minnesota National Guard," Governor Pawlenty noted on Shellito’s departure from service. "During the past seven years, our Guard Soldiers, Airmen, and their families have served with distinction here in Minnesota and around the world. General Shellito's leadership has been a critical part of building our Guard's outstanding reputation and our nation-leading programs to support Guard members when they return from deployments. On behalf of a grateful state, we thank General Shellito for his exemplary service."
In honor of
Shellito's service, MSUM has given his name to the University's Veterans
Center