Earl "Gene" Armstrong

Earl "Gene" Armstrong, 76, of Moffett passed away
Sunday, Feb.8,2009,in Moffett.He was a member of
the Moffett Baptist Mission, an active member of
the MoffettTown Council, volunteer fireman and a
member of the American Legion. He graduated from
Fort Smith High School in 1950 and served in the
Army. He worked for Kaiser Steel in CA for several
years and Wright Service Station.

Services were held Thursday, Feb. l2, 2009, at
Moffett Mission in Moffett with burial at Forest
Park Cemetery in Fort Smith under the direction
of Fentress Mortuary in Fort Smith.

ANNE KASTEN NELSON CONTRIBUTES BOOK TO UAFS

A copy of the new book titled “The Policy Makers: Shaping American Foreign Policy from 1947 to the Present” has been given to Boreham Library at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith by Anna Kasten Nelson, who graduated from UA Fort Smith in 1952 when it was Fort Smith Junior College.
Dr. Nelson, who is Distinguished Historian in Residence at American University in Washington, D.C., edited the book and wrote one of the seven chapters in it. “The Policy Makers” was published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., an academic and scholarly publisher of trade books and textbooks.
At American University, Nelson teaches courses related to U.S. foreign policy. She is the author of more than 30 articles, essays and reviews and served on the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board from 1994-1998. She visited UA Fort Smith in November to speak on Kennedy’s assassination.
Dr. Nelson sent the “The Policy Makers” to Anne Thomas, director of alumni affairs at UA Fort Smith, with a note to give it to the university library. She autographed the title page with “Best Wishes from a former student at UAFS, Anna Kasten Nelson.”
The book, which has a 2009 publication date, talks about U.S. policy makers who have wielded influence, largely behind the scenes, since World War II, when the advent of the Cold War brought new problems of national security for the United States. As a result, U.S. presidents no longer sat down with their secretaries of state to determine the nation’s foreign policy. They instead reached out to individuals in the intelligence and military organizations and to advisers in the White House. “The Policy Makers” examines seven. Nelson’s chapter in the book is titled “Senator Henry Jackson and the Demise of Détente.”
Authors of the other chapters include Steven L. Rearden, historian with the joint chiefs of staff; Chris Tudda, historian in the Declassification and Publishing Division in the Office of the Historian, Department of State; Lloyd Gardner, research professor of history at Rutgers University; Patrick Vaughan, American historian and scholar currently teaching at the Institute for American Studies and Polish Diaspora at the Jagiellonian University in Poland; John Prados, analyst of security, intelligence and diplomacy and a senior fellow at the National Security Archive; and Walter LaFeber, the Andrew and James Tisch University Professor Emeritus at Cornell University.
Other “policy makers” who are featured include Paul H. Nitze, Robert Bowie, Walt Whitman Rostow, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Bill Casey and Colin Powell.
After Dr. Nelson graduated from Fort Smith Junior College, she received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in history from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has also previously taught at George Washington University, Arizona State University and Tulane University.
More information about the book is available at the publisher’s Web site, http://www.uafortsmith.edu/shell-cgi/redirect.pl?go=http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/, where it can be purchased. “The Policy Makers” is also available at http://www.uafortsmith.edu/shell-cgi/redirect.pl?go=http://www.amazon.com/.

JOHN C. BAKER

John C. Baker, Sr., 76, of Fort Smith, Arkansas passed away January 29, 2009 in Fort Smith. He was a member of Goddard United Methodist Church, and the “Nifty Fifties”. He retired from the United State Air Force after 20 years. He served during the Korean War and was a missile launch master. He also retired from Civil Service after 23 years.

He is survived by his wife Peggy Hinds Baker; one daughter: Helen Kay Martin and her husband Alan of Fort Smith; one son: John Clay Baker, Jr. and his wife Jamie of Denver, Colorado; three step-daughters: Marcia Flocks and her husband Carl of Claremore, Oklahoma; Nancy I. Bartlett and her husband Paul of Springdale, Arkansas; Ann Grimes and her husband Dennis of Fort Smith; one step-son: Robert Hinds and his wife Suzette of Dallas, Texas; step sister: Louise Rodgers of Fort Smith; eleven grandchildren and two great grandsons. He was preceded in death by his brother Francis Baker.

Memorials may be made to Goddard United Methodist Church 1922 Dodson, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901. To place an online tribute please visit http://www.edwardsfuneralhome.com/