February 15, 2026

By Arthur H. Gunther

thecolumnrule.com

Al Witt, my late boss and mentor in the Photo Department at the former Rockland Journal-News in Nyack, N.Y., drove an Army tank transport in the “Battle of the Bulge” in December 1944, returned safe from the European Theatre to the U.S. and picked up civilian life. What post-war emotional effects there were we colleagues and others never knew. Not so with others at the newspaper or in every hamlet, village and town of America.

He moved to Rockland County, N.Y., along with many veterans seeking new development housing, the cost of which was reduced by the G.I. Bill. Al built a middle-class life, which was in part the reasoning behind veteran aid, raising a family, assisting his church and community. He, like millions who served in the Second World War, was a citizen soldier, not career military, a distinction quite necessary in democracy. Called upon to assist the professionals who protect us, citizen soldiers also do the job, though it must be temporary. If they survive, they return home and become the pros at keeping the republic constitutionally up to speed – the reason they answered the call in the first place.

Al was not unique as a citizen, because to truly be one, you are not unique. You show up and do the job like everyone else is supposed to do. No big praise. Just another cog in the wheel, however important. Knowing him for more than 50 years, this fellow of the Great Depression, losing his mother too soon, a man self-made in photography, a helper of the poor, a teacher for me, Al Witt lived with less prejudice than many.

He did not recite the Declaration of Independence nor talk about the American founders. But he did abhor government indifference as to people’s needs, especially when supported by the ignorance and prejudice of others. Al had his likes and dislikes, but as far as I could tell, he did not target racial or ethnic groups nor generalize from ignorance. He simply did good for many – in his church, as a food program cook, as a driver for cancer victims. He went to war and then once again in his civilian clothes, Al met the day’s challenges.

The one thing you learn quickly at a newspaper is that each day is fast-paced and that the deadline clock is always advancing. It’s a given that you make deadline. Not much time to jawbone, to sit on your backside. The chief lesson Al taught us was just to be on the job. He did that in France and Germany, too, as did millions of others. A democracy hums when the cogs mesh on the big wheel. It is so ordinary as to be extraordinary.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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