To the editor:

When the new Jasper Library and Community Arts complex is finished and the library moves into its new facility, will the Freedom Lamp in front of the old building move with it? I'm hoping that it is being included in the plans. The Freedom Lamp was erected by the Jasper Jaycees to honor Jasper native and Maryknoll missionary Father Robert Greene.

For those who do not remember, Father Greene was a missionary in China who was put under house arrest for a year and a half at his mission, which the Chinese communists had closed, then placed on trial, found guilty and sentenced to execution by beheading. They then told him they were going to be merciful and dragged him across China, putting him on display in several cities for crowds to jeer at, before finally releasing him to cross the border to freedom in Hong Kong.

Upon his return to the USA Father Greene wrote a memoir, Calvary in China, that became a huge best seller and which was adapted for an ABC television program. Father Greene is an outstanding example of devotion to faith, dedication to service, and courage under extreme pressure. He always kept close ties to his home town and his memory deserves to be honored by continuing to keep his lamp burning for the indefinite future. As the creators of an exhibit honoring Father Greene at the Dubois County Museum, Jerry and I hope that Jasper does not forget one of its most distinguished native sons.

—Maggie Birge
Jasper