American Men

This week, two men have made headlines that both made unconventional differences in America. Each created a very different story, but neither ended up in the same place he began. This post will be short and sweet. Just a couple of short blurbs about a couple of men. Find their stories interesting? Do some research! Type these guys' names into a search engine and ingest as many articles as possible! Events do matter, but people define history and history in the making.

Hyman Strachman
Photo Credit: Tod Heisler

Hyman Strachman is a 92 year old World War II veteran, and a movie bootlegger. To date, "Big Hy" has pirated hundreds of thousands of popular DVDs. As the entertainment industry loses millions every year to digital pirates, Strachman is receiving praise for his work. Why? Big Hy copies DVDs for the specific purpose of sending movies to soldiers overseas. After reading on message boards that troops abroad have very little access to feature films, Strachman began copying already pirated DVDs as his way of supporting the soldiers. He isn't making any money off of his bootlegging. Since Big Hy donates all of his copies, the MPAA hasn't come own on him. In fact, a spokesman even told the New York Times "We are grateful that the entertainment we produce can bring some enjoyment to them [troops] while they are away from home."

Chuck Colson
Photo Credit: Oliver F. Atkins

Charles "Chuck" Colson was counsel to President Nixon, and spent seven months in prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate Scandal. While Colson was in prison, certain problems with his son arose. Minnesota Governor Al Quie offered to take Colson's place in prison, so that Colson could be released to tend to his son. While Quie was never placed behind bars, his efforts did result in Colson's early release. Chuck Colson decided to spend the remainder of his life serving inmates. After his release, Colson created Prison Fellowship as a Christian collaboration to prepare incarcerated inmates for release back into the community. For the past four decades, Colson has traveled to prisons around the nation to speak and to serve. He also continued to work as a radio commentator and author, all the while maintaining a presence on Capitol Hill. Earlier this week, at the age of 80, Chuck Colson passed away.