Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
As we opened the new year (2013) I was thinking about how precarious life has become in this new age. A majority of the voters thought enough of Obama to reelect him last year. It would seem that there is a broad spectrum of support for taxing other people in the…

Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
Its so hard to believe that nearly thirty years have passed since we lived in Scotland. While we were there, we immersed ourselves in the local culture as much as we could given a very hectic work schedule at Holy Loch. But Debbie and I spent as much time as…

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 39,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 9 Film Festivals Click here to see the complete report.

Strategic Deterrence – 3500 patrols and counting

When most people look back at the fifties, it was a mixture of many different themes. On the one hand, we had the growth of the so called middle class into suburbia as returning GI’s and their counterparts in the other services came home as victors to a nation ready to grow. Home ownership became […]

Merry Christmas

I wish you the joy of the season. Joy that there are still places in the world where people are free. Joy that men and women are still willing to put their lives on the line this day to make sure you can celebrate in peace with your family. Joy that the Birth of the […]

Air wars

Its been a week since the tragedy caused by a man who by every account had some serious mental issues. The obvious attacks against personal gun ownership have been unrelenting every single day since. I have forced myself to listen to NPR on my daily commute and whenever it was convenient to do so. As […]

…then, they came for the Jews

December 17, 1942 was a monumental day in world history. Rumors of the “Jewish” problem and its possible solution had been leaking out for many months. Civilized governments including our own in the United States must have found it hard to believe that an entire race was being systematically targeted for destruction. How was this […]

Words seem so inadequate today

Just when it seems like society can’t throw you a curve worse than the last senseless tragedy, something inexplicable happens to show how wrong you can be. I was born after the Second World War so all of the horrors I write about in my stories are nothing more than what I imagine they would […]

December 12, 1942 Report of the Sinking of the SS President Coolidge

During the war, detailed records were kept that later were transcribed for review by historians. Today’s story comes from that report. Imagine how different Christmas of 1942 would have been for the families of over five thousand soldiers if the Captain of this ship had not taken the actions he did. http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/comms/1942-12.html S. S. PRESIDENT […]

Mind your helm…

My first patrol on the USS George Washington was a blur in many ways. Being a new guy, I spent most of it completing my non-qual duty of mess cooking. I distinctly remember the hatches being shut for the last time, the diving alarm and the feeling of helplessness as the boat dove beneath the […]