Golden Eagle
In March of 2001, Pennsylvania Game Commission officers Tom Swiech and Jim Jolley brought an injured Golden Eagle to CCEEC’s small wildlife clinic. The bird had been shot in the wing. Unable to fly, she managed somehow to survive on the ground for at least ten days before being rescued by a brave, determined Sullivan County resident.

What lousy treatment! A bird to be respected and revered by every American, a bird protected by at least three separate state and federal laws, blown out of the sky.

One figure in American history comes to mind here - someone who got equally poor treatment from his countrymen, and this eagle’s namesake, Charles Butler McVay. McVay was the Captain of the ill-fated USS Indianapolis, a heavy cruiser sunk by Japanese torpedoes near the end of World War II. Hundreds of men perished,
and hundreds more, including McVay, floated in the shark-infested waters of the South Pacific until rescued three
days later.

McVay was court-martialed, despite the protests of his surviving crew. The Japanese submarine commander even testified at the hearings. What a raw deal! Miss Charles Butler McVay (we call her Miss Charles), reminds us of all the things we need to cherish about or country – both its people and its exquisite natural resources.