Pischner to tell WWI story

COEUR d'ALENE - A four-term Idaho legislator will share a story of World War I of "bravery, true grit, battle, soldiers, airmen and even a pigeon" at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

Don Pischner, a trustee on the Idaho State Historical Society, will give a presentation on "The Lost Battalion and Two Coeur d'Alene Doughboys."

"After an unimaginable discovery of nearly lost documents, Pischner will tell the story of two local men — honoring their military service and telling of their lifelong acquaintance," according to a flyer.

"Isolated by enemy forces for five days, Army soldiers of the United States 77th Division were given two options: surrender or die. They chose a third," the flyer states.

Pischner was born in Coeur d'Alene and is a third-generation Idahoan whose grandparents settled north of Hayden in the 1890s.

The program is free.