Letter: Gov. Mike was simply the best

Monday, March 29, 2004 | 9:29 a.m.

I had the great honor and privilege of working with and for Mike O'Callaghan during the early days of the War on Poverty. Mike was one of Sargent Shriver's hand-picked executives to get the Job Corps program off the ground and running properly.

Working with Mike was a 24-7 deal. He would send us scrambling to the field out of Washington to troubleshoot a problem at one of the camps. As we arrived, there was always a message from Mike wanting to know, "What the hell we had done and when were we going to give him a report."

He was tireless and would walk 22 blocks every day from his hotel to OEO headquarters on his artificial leg. To be in his presence gave a new meaning to the work ethic. He would give directions, answer calls, make decisions as if he were an air traffic controller. He was a legend in his own time.

His former battalion commander, Maj. Tom Modisett, and Phil Hanifin, George Miller and others had a litany of Mike O'Callaghan stories. His exploits in Korea would make an entire TV action series. Mike was a man who left so many tracks and indentations on our life and times that his legacy will live forever.

What a great president he would have made for our country. Just contrast Mike to the last five presidents and our current leader and see how that would stack up.

Hopefully, someone will write a book on the life and times of the great Iron Mike.

RON GURLEY Las Cruces, N.M.