OJD's Hero of the Month: Richard (Dick) Proenneke
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| Dick lived in this handmade cabin in Alaska for 30 years. |
You wanna talk about self sufficiency and survival? Let me introduce you to Dick Proenneke. He was born in 1916 in Lee County Iowa. He served in the United States Navy as a carpenter during World War II and worked as a diesel mechanic most of his first 50 years.
What makes him a hero from my point of view? Around age 52, he moved to a remote part of Alaska, Twin Lakes, and with only a handful of tools, built everything he needed to survive...for the next 30 years. He built a cabin by hand from local trees. He built his food storage on 20 foot stilts so animals couldn't get to it and used a removeable ladder for access. He either grew or caught everything he ate with few exceptions. Alaskan winters came and went, but he handled it all by himself.
