Oliver North to speak at Lincoln Day in March

Oliver North, a combat veteran of the Marine Corps and president of the National Rifle Association, will speak at the 50th annual Lincoln Day celebration March 23 in Cape Girardeau.

The Cape Girardeau County Republican Women’s Club hosts the gathering.

Doors for this year’s celebration will open at 5 p.m. at the Osage Centre. The event will start at 6 p.m., according to a news release from the club.

The organization’s Jane Perry said members are excited about this year’s speaker.

“He’s just a national hero,” said Perry, who heads up publicity for the group. “We were really fortunate he said yes,” she added.

North, however, drew public scrutiny as one of the key players in the Iran-Contra arms scandal.

A national security aide in the Reagan-Bush administration, North was convicted in 1989 on three felony counts connected to the Iran-Contra controversy, which involved the United States government secretly selling arms to Iran in violation of an embargo at the time.

The dual purpose was to encourage the Iranian regime to free U.S. hostages while using the proceeds to skirt a ban and fund Contra guerrillas who were fighting the left-wing government in Nicaragua. North’s convictions were later overturned on a technicality.

North later became a best-selling author. He also was a syndicated columnist and host of “War Stories” on Fox News Channel. He retired from Fox News in May 2018 to serve as president of the National Rifle Association of America.

Born in 1943 in San Antonio, North graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. He served 22 years as a U.S. Marine. His combat awards include the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor and two Purple Hearts for wounds in action.

From 1983 to 1986, he served as counter-terrorism coordinator on the National Security Council staff. He helped plan the rescue of U.S. students on Grenada, the rescue of American hostages, the capture of the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and the raids on Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi’s terror bases, after which he was targeted for assassination by Abu Nidal’s Islamic Jihad. President Ronald Reagan described him as “an American hero.”

North has authored 17 books and is co-founder of Freedom Alliance, an organization serving wounded U.S. military personnel and their families. He has received acclaim for award-winning Fox News coverage of more than 60 U.S. units in combat and his Freedom Alliance college Hero Scholarships for children of service members killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty.

But, according to the news release, North said his greatest achievement is being “the God-fearing husband of one, father of four and grandfather of seventeen.”

He and his wife, Betsy, live in Virginia. In November, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Tickets for Lincoln Day will be $25 each and include a meal. Ticket locations will be announced later, Perry said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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