George McGovern Receiving Hospice Care

[Jackilope]

Source: KELOland News

McGovern Receiving Hospice Care In Sioux Falls
Published: October 15, 2012, 4:12 PM



George McGovern | May 2012

SIOUX FALLS, SD - Senator George McGovern is receiving hospice care.
The family announced Monday afternoon that the senator is in Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls.

It was just in August when the former Democratic presidential candidate gave up his homes in Mitchell and Florida to spend more time near family in Sioux Falls. 

The 90 year old McGovern was a three term U.S. Senator from the 1960s to the 1980s. He also served in the House of Representatives.





© 2012 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.



Read more: http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/mcgovern-receiving-hospice-care-in-sioux-falls/?id=138512

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Our dear and beloved Senator McGovern is in hospice. I am so proud to have had such a great and kind man represent us. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

[Danmel]

1. Peace to the McGovern family

[LiberalElite]

2. Sen. McGovern

is a good man. We need more like him.

[burrowowl]

31. Amen!

[niyad]

3. thoughts and prayers for him and his family, and all who cherish him

[hrmjustin]

4. My prayers and Good thoughts are with you Senator.

[UpInArms]

5. I wish safe passage to such a good man

We were all richer for being on this planet with you.

Edit for typo

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Pass easy, dear Senator McGovern...

You and your family are in my thoughts.

[etherealtruth]

7. May the end of his life be warm and comfortable

[CrazyOrangeCat]

8. McGovern is a brave man

He was the first war hero to get swift-boated by the pukes.

He fought against a vile, senseless war. He's lived an honest, tremendous life.

[lunasun]

15. +1

[NoMoreWarNow]

43. yes-- well put

[tblue]

9. An all-time hero and among the very best

This makes me so sad.

[madinmaryland]

10. Thank you for the update. A man who was an inspiration to many of us here and did

so much for our country.

[Jackilope]

30. You are welcome.

Sen. McGovern was at DWU in Mitchell, SD on election day in 1972. I wasn't old enough to vote, but was invited to hear him speak at DWU by a fellow 6th grade classmate. I got to shake his hand that day -- and wanted so much for him to be our President.

A month or so ago, did get to shake his hand at a 90th birthday celebration in Sioux Falls. Last spring he spoke at McGovern Days in Sioux Falls. You could feel the love and admiration from everyone in the room that night. One of the closing comments he shared with us was the day after the election. Eleanor and he were on a runway and his running mate hugged them and said, "We may have lost the election, but we did not lose our souls."

So incredibly grateful for his time here .... and so incredibly sad to lose him.

[PearliePoo2]

11. I am proud to say I voted for George McGovern

and I would do so today.
This makes me sad....another progressive we're losing.
Carry on George.

[DesertFlower]

78. i voted for him too.

sending positive thoughts to his loved ones.

[navarth]

102. Me too...still have my McGovern/Shriver button

a good and decent, honest man, a war hero. screwed over by the Nixon filth machine. may your passing be peaceful, good sir. comfort and courage to your family...to all of us.

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. My first presidential vote was for Senator McGovern...

Safe passage to him.

[PlanetBev]

17. Me too

Forty years on, I'll never forget how excited I was to line up for the first time and cast my vote for Senator McGovern.

[ELI BOY 1950]

20. MINE ALSO...I have NEVER voted for thr right n my life

[dhill926]

37. my first presidential vote as well......

hope he's comfortable to the end. a great man.....

[Faygo Kid]

48. Me, too. I worked for him, as well.

Had more hair then. I loved the man, still do.

[bullwinkle428]

58. I was not old enough, but both parents proudly voted for him! Made a huge impact

as far as shaping my own political views to this day.

[KT2000]

68. Me too - was proud to vote for him

he is a good man.

[LuckyLib]

75. Me as well. I was proud to vote for an individual with his character and

values.

[xxqqqzme]

86. My first presidential vote

too. Have always admired him.

[gopiscrap]

13. Prayers for George and his family

he was absolutely correct about Nixon and the country didn't believe him. On August 9, 1974 he should have been crowing from the rooftops that the nation had it's head up it's collective ass when they voted in November 1972.

[regnaD kciN]

54. While he didn't crow about Nixon's downfall...

...I remember a comment from campaign manager Frank Mankewicz the year after: "Who won the election? All I know is that Senator McGovern is still in office, and I'm not in jail."

[David Zephyr]

14. This breaks my heart. I love this man.

Jackilope, as sad as this is, I appreciate your posting of this.

George McGovern was my first cast vote for President. I volunteered my heart out for him and his losing tore me into pieces all those years ago.

I will always honor this brave man who stood up to the big lie and was "there".

[magical thyme]

16. may you have a peaceful passage, Senator McGovern

and peace to all your family. Thank you for your service.

I cast my very first vote for you.

[renate]

18. oh, this makes me sad

Ninety years is a good run, but still...

It's a huge loss when such a good-to-the-bone person leaves this earth.

[DerelictDeminGA]

19. Deep peace of the running wave...

[immoderate]

21. A great American --- a great man!

Go in peace George. I know you will.

I'm proud to have voted for you.

Your friend,

--imm

[We People]

22. So sad - he fought for our country and has endured much, including personal loss

I was just thinking yesterday about when I cast my first presidential vote. It was for Sen. George McGovern.

Thank you, Jackilope, for informing us and for the closing thoughts in your post.

[midnight]

23. K&R

[Irishonly]

24. Wishing his family peace

He is one of the great, good guys.

[tavalon]

25. That's a good lifetime, much of it devoted to service.

May he and his family have a gentle and kind passing. And may his family be comforted in this time.

[xchrom]

26. Peace be with him and with his family at this time. Nt

[Botany]

27. I hope he is warm and is surrounded by family and friends

The man was a real hero in WW II too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McGovern#Military_service

[Bossy Monkey]

28. "Come home America/ it's been a long, long time"

and THAT was 40 years ago. McGovern's campaign song, also the B-side of "Rockin' Pneumonia/Boogie Woogie Flu" by Johnny Winters.

May your passage be easy and peaceful, Senator, and best wishes to your family, friends and supporters.

[nolabear]

29. Cross easy. He was incredibly important to us when we were young.

[UrbScotty]

32. Very sad to hear this. A safe and peaceful passage to an American hero.

[rug]

33. He's the first person I voted for President.

[FailureToCommunicate]

34. He is a great American, who served during a difficult time in history

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_HyyDHyAwI6k/SDyqykwX5YI/AAAAAAAAA9A/S_J943dKgT4/s400/clinton+and+mcgovern.jpg

[Hestia]

35. I just so happened to DVR a 3 hour documentary about the year he was running for president

"One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern". It is surprising about what his supporters say about him - "the world would be different if he had won", seems to still be theme today. I am about half way through it. I recorded it from LINK TV. I just remember him from the news - I was only 14 at the time, so didn't get the chance to vote for him. Wow, how the LBJ administration went after him! He was the only ever candidate to have the Press Corp stand up and clap after he gave a press conference.

[regnaD kciN]

51. Yes, the world would have been different...

Even though our military involvement in Vietnam came to an end anyway a couple of months after the election, and Nixon wound up out of power twenty-one months later, if you think about it, having McGovern in the White House would have spared us the whole Watergate scandal and the corrosive distrust in government that sprung from it. Also, a whole bunch of players who went on to become big names in the future (Cheney and Rumsfeld among policy-makers, and the Atwaters and Roves among political operatives) would have been mainly known as having been part of a failed administration and lost election, and would never have reached the positions of prominence that allowed them to spread their poison through the political system for decades. Not to mention that we wouldn't have seen the rush (spearheaded by Jimmy Carter at the '72 convention, let us remember) to "move to the center" and purge liberal idealism that was the hallmark of the Democratic Party through the Clinton presidency. Even today, we see its toll -- although I would be the last to claim that Obama is not progressive, neither he nor the other crop of current Democratic leaders is anything but doggedly pragmatic, without the idealism of the Kennedys and McGoverns. As, as the old saying goes, "where there is no vision, the people perish."

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

88. Great summation...

... as a South Dakotan who was very aware of politics, McGovern and Nixon '72, thanks to my maternal grandfather who got long winded on Sunday afternoons, yet much too young to vote until a year after McGovern was, as a previous poster noted, "swift boated", and lost to a Republican infamous for never having taken the floor of the House to make a speech. It was eye opening considering the amount of hate that was present in the Jim Abnor/GOP campaign(Abnor was the, "mentor", of John Thune, R-SD if that explains anything) of 1980, they even had it running through the small town high school I attended in South Dakota. I still shake my head when thinking of it. So many moral standards were broken by McGovern's opponents, and in hindsight, getting George McGovern out of the way in the Senate is part of what they needed to allow Reaganism to take hold. We have all seen the aftermath.

And despite the bitter, dividing campaign that was foisted upon him, George McGovern still endeavored to help all of mankind through his continued effort towards making sure no kid had to go to bed hungry.

[LoisB]

36. Really sorry to hear this. A good man, good for the country.

[bucolic_frolic]

38. Let's Hope

he makes it through election day and is aware of an Obama victory.

[ejbr]

39. The first man I ever wanted to win the presidency....God bless n/t

[Vidar]

40. A true Prince of Peace. Safe passage, Senator.

[AllyCat]

41. Safe passage to you brave man.

When I was 6, I wanted to vote for you. You have made your way in the world and earned a decent rest.

[Blue Palasky]

42. Thank You

For Your Service, Senator

[Odin2005]

44. He was the first person my Boomer dad voted for.

[Faygo Kid]

45. Ohmigod. My first presidential vote, and still my best.

I worked for him as a young man in college. I love George McGovern.

[forestpath]

46. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest....

George McGovern was the first person I ever voted for. And the best.

[regnaD kciN]

47. Another lion is about to leave us...

I worked my heart out for Senator McGovern as a high-schooler in 1972. I only regret that I didn't reach voting age until 1974, as it would have been a privilege beyond compare to be able to say I cast my first vote for him.

[Bluzmann57]

49. That is very sad indeed

My mom and dad worked their tails off in 1972 to get him elected, to no avail. But it taught me a lesson and made a teenage boy aware of a great man. Let's hope his final days on this earth are comfortable.

[byoung6]

50. George Mcgovern a icon of my youth

I was 12 years old and worked for the McGovern campaign in my hometown. I had protested the war, and wholeheartedly threw myself into the McGovern campaign. It changed my life, I was involved and interested in politics form then on. I am so sorry to hear this, but there is a time for everything and everybody, travel well, and carry our love and respect forever Sen. McGovern.

[RKP5637]

52. What a legend. So saddened to hear this, I recall him and those times so well. n/t

[llmart]

53. My first vote.....

in a Presidential race was for him. Yeah, I was in the minority but history proved those of us who voted for him had the right candidate.

A truly great man.

[morningglory]

55. What a great man! Hope he gets his absentee ballot in soon. nt

[tilsammans]

56. My first vote as well!

I had the honor of meeting Senator McGovern a few months ago. He is one of the greatest Americans of my lifetime. An outstanding statesman, patriot, and gentleman.

Thank you, dear Senator, for all you've done for the United States and the world.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

57. 1972 Democratic National Convention Acceptance Speech

[llmart]

59. Sure brings back memories.....

of our youth.

[humblebum]

60. The first presidential candidate I voted for. nt

[MarianJack]

61. In 1972,...

...I worked for him in 3 primary states and met him 3 times. He's a great man and would have been a fantastic President.

PEACE!

[The Wizard]

62. Just mentioned him yesterday

as the person who made me a Democrat in 72.

[JDPriestly]

63. I volunteered for the McGovern campaign in 1972.

McGovern is one of my favorites of all time.

Thank you, Senator McGovern, for your service to the country.

[OldDem2012]

64. Also my first vote...may your passing be easy, Senator. nt.

[mimi85]

76. My first vote as well.

Yes, he's a very good man - I send him and his family my very best wishes. I remember when the voting age was 21. You could go to Vietnam, but not vote. And he was against the war; I'll always appreciate and remember him.

[radicalliberal]

65. Very sad ... :-(

I also voted (for the first time in a Presidential election) for George McGovern in 1972.

[img][/img]

[Heathen57]

66. I hate to hear this news

May his passing be painless and may his family find solace in each other.

[AzDar]

67. A wonderful human being, and a wonderful American.

[klook]

69. Good man, for whom I cast my first presidential vote

The lady at my college bursar's office looked truly frightened when I told her I wanted a Democratic absentee ballot. I'll admit to a little surge of power as I cast my vote for Sen. McGovern.

I've voted for many Democrats since then (and NEVER for a Republican). He got me off on the right foot.

What a sincerely decent and honest man. Time for you to lay down your burden, sir. We will carry it for you from here on out.

[rtassi]

71. Mine too! n/t

[graham4anything]

70. Go softly dear George

[Douglas Carpenter]

72. my hero

[defacto7]

73. Senator McGovern,

I hope you know how much hope and purpose you implanted in the minds and spirit of so many Americans. Your legacy will continue to inspire us to seek peace in this battle torn world.

I salute you, sir.

[femrap]

74. He was my first vote for

President....I was 18 years old. The first time 18 year-olds were allowed to vote.

Just think how different the world would be if he had won instead of Nixon.

I love you, Senator McGovern....just as much as I loved you when I was 18...even more.

Another cool dude leaves us. I feel sorry for those left behind....bless his family and let them remember his wonderful, happy days.

[pinto]

77. Smooth journey to you and yours Senator. Thank you for your service.

[BeyondGeography]

79. He fought the good fight his whole, long life

The '72 election would have destroyed a lesser man. There was no greater Democratic voice in the 80s to express our values when the country was Reaganed. Such a fine and noble man.

[wordpix]

80. I was so disappointed when he didn't win b/c he deserved to

What a patriot

[pinto]

81. Kick.

[Aristus]

82. I wish for you no pain, sir, and lots of family.

You are an American hero, Senator...

[Crunchy Frog]

83. .

[DallasNE]

84. A Friend Of Mine's Father Was A High School Classmate

Of Eleanor McGovern and the families were fairly close. He had the John Deere dealership in Woonsocket, SD. She moved away and I have lost touch with her but she had a number of touching stories to tell about the McGoven's. And speaking of being once removed from SD politics, the current Governor is the brother of the then wife of my best man when I got married some 30 years ago.

[alp227]

85. six months ago McGovern went to the hospital.

As Mike Malloy reported back then (see the 0:50 mark...)

I hope the hospice provides the senator and WWII hero with a compassionate last phase of life.

[David Zephyr]

87. Kicking for Senator McGovern.

One more kick for this great American.

[Tom Rinaldo]

89. My encounter with George McGovern

I posted this somewhere else a week or two again in reply to a thread on an Op-Ed McGovern had written, which was an overview of his political life. I didn't know he was ill then:

I met George McGovern while he was gearing up but before getting the Democratic nomination. I was a college student and an anti-war activist. McGovern spoke at my University and was well received. He didn't rush off campus immediately. I and a small group of other activists had set up a tent as a protest focal point on a central grassy area central to the campus. After McGovern's speech we made it back there to reassemble. It wasn't too long after when we looked over to see George McGovern strolling over toward us, without staff. He greeted us, shook our hands, thanked us for our activism, and could not have been more gracious or sincere. He was very much a man of my father's generation, and he looked it. Unlike RFK there was absolutely nothing "cutting edge" about the way he manifest. He was heartland America, naturally at home in staid and conservative attire. We were every bit as straggly as any Yippie one might have encountered at the time. None of that mattered in the slightest. The connection we felt with George McGovern that day was as warm and natural as a family reunion.

That was the moment when I began to truly admire him, and nothing has happened since then to do anything other than deeper the admiration I still have for George McGovern. That brief meeting taught me something deep and very important on a level that penetrated well beyond words. Remember, those were still the days of the "anti-establishment" "counter culture". I may not have admitted it consciously at the time, but I was subtly alienated from people who came across to me as mainstream and traditional in appearance and lifestyle. George McGovern was a light year.away from me in conventional experiences, and a massively significant generation removed from my late 60's centric world view, But I knew he was my brother none the less, and from that moment on I never viewed the world as narrowly again

[Anthony McCarthy]

90. A great human being

George McGovern is a great human being, one of the best candidates for president in our history. The combination of the Republican-corporate money bags and the corrupt, corporate media could defeat him to give the obviously corrupt Nixon a second term should have been all the evidence needed to force basic changes to prevent that happening again. But, instead, liberals allowed the basic corruption to stay in-place, attempting a little reform around the edges. Reform that was ineffective and easily destroyed, beginning with Buckley vs. Valeo in 1976, a corrupt decision supported by some of the more deluded "liberal" institutions and individuals.

I wish him rest after a great life of service to humanity and more personal tragedy than he deserved. May his passing to eternity be a comfort to him and his loved ones.

[bemildred]

91. Rest in peace George, I still keep your campaign buttons around.

You did good work for us.

[Dakotacrat]

92. Sad, sad news.

He changed the face of politics in this country, and we are all the better for it. You are in our thoughts, Senator.

[zonkers]

93. I was a little kid when I went my McGovern for Pres. HQ

on Main street in my small town. It was my first awareness of a presidential campaign and the i"political world". Neighborhood teens I knew were volunteering and loaded me up with buttons, bumper stickers and a paper Nixon Halloween mask. Never forgot the positive energy in the place but the experience stayed with me and helped shape me.

[sinkingfeeling]

94. The first presidential campaign I worked for and my first vote was for Sen. McGovern.

[me b zola]

95. Peace & comfort to Senator McGovern and all who love him

[ChazII]

96. Adding more prayers

for the family and Sen. McGovern. He was an asset to our nation.

[jwirr]

97. If I were back home in that area I would plan a vigil for him to show my continued love.

[tabasco]

98. God might need a new wingman soon.

McGovern is a true American hero.

[Auntie Bush]

99. I hope he lives long enough to hear that Obama won re-election... so he can die in peace knowing

that America is still in good hands.

[David Zephyr]

100. Kick!

[slackmaster]

101. That name brings back a lot of powerful memories for me, mostly from 1968

[2ndAmForComputers]

103. Please share.

[slackmaster]

105. My family moved from San Diego, CA to Alamogordo, NM a few months before the election

I was 10 years old. The move was temporary so that my dad could work on a weapon system at Holloman AFB, home of the White Sands Missile Range.

To say I experienced a culture shock was an understatement. Most of the people in my neighborhood were progressive Democrats, or old-time New Dealers. I lived close to the UC San Diego campus. Professor Herbert Marcuse lived around the corner from me. His home was a favorite stop for the neighborhood kids every Halloween.

Most people I knew supported Robert F. Kennedy, at least until he was assassinated in June. After that, George McGovern offered himself as a substitute. But it just wasn't time for him. I remember him speaking at the convention. I remember a newspaper cartoon portraying him as flying a bomber, dropping a load of flowers. I remember some of my more outspoken liberal friends saying things like "The country just isn't ready for him yet." Of course he ran in earnest in 1972 against the incumbent Richard Nixon, and got his clock cleaned. It was that election in which I learned what the term "landslide" really meant.

Alamogordo was a very different place. There were Wallace posters, yard signs, and bumper stickers everywhere. Nobody in my part of San Diego would have dared to show support for the unrepentant segregationist that Wallace was at the time.

I remember General Curtis LeMay appearing on the ballot as the American Independent Party (Wallace's) candidate for Vice President. I was an avid reader of history, and I had recently learned of his role in leading the Berlin Air Lift and forming the Strategic Air Command. It seemed odd even to my 10-year-old mind that a man with a career like that would get involved in politics at all, much less with a clown like Wallace.

Of course I also remember well the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Tet Offensive, and most of all the Apollo 8 moon mission. My brother and I spent Christmas at the home of our grandparents in Topeka, Kansas and watched coverage of the flight on TV. It was about 0 degrees outside. That was the last time I ever saw that grandfather. He died in March 1969 of a heart attack.

Returning to San Diego was like waking up from a long nightmare. We arrived back at our home on the evening of July 20, 1969 about an hour after Apollo 11 had touched down on the surface of the Moon.

I view the late 1960s as a peak time for our country, and in some ways for me personally. There was an optimism, and a belief in what could be achieved through science and education, that seems to have been lost among many of us.

Maybe the country wasn't ready for George McGovern in 1968 or 1972. Maybe it never will be. Maybe it never should be. I don't know.

[Purveyor]

104. I'm so sorry to hear this. The very first campaign I worked on while in the 9th grade was for the

good Senator for President.

George McGovern, you will always be a hero to me.

Godspeed my friend, godspeed.

[PAMod]

106. He was also a WWII hero (bomber pilot I believe) and President Kennedy's Food for Peace director.

Another American icon, passing into history.

My thought and prayers to him and his family...

[Norbert]

107. George McGovern is a hero and a gentleman

Thank you sir for your service in World War II as well as your life of public service.


If anyone has a chance read Stephen Ambrose "The Wild Blue. The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45 I read it and loved it. I gained even more respect for Sen. McGovern after I read it.