Rise again…

This week, Christians all over the world are celebrating the holiest of all days, a day which is set aside to remember the Resurrection of the Christ. This day reminds us that there is an ultimate victory for those who are part of the faith… the victory of life over death. Like many people, I […]

A Good Navy Man

The Bluejacket’s Manual of 1946 was a special edition The US Navy (along with its sister services) had just finished a victory of epic proportions and the BJM writers were writing about the needs the country would have from its sailors for years to come. In the introduction, the manual talks about the need for […]

A date that should also live in infamy (but we somehow want to ignore)

1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand. http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2008/february/tradebom_022608 All of us who were alive on September 11, 2001 will remember the tragic scenes of planes exploding into buildings and the heroic […]

Submarines; Scourge of the Seas or Sentinels of Liberty? (It depends on who is at the helm)

At the outset of the war between the states, the weight of sea power rested with the Northern states both in actual number of existing ships and the capacity to manufacture new ones. The industrial capacity of the north had matured because of many reasons up to that point. Availability of raw materials and capacity […]

A more modern way of living… really???

I saw this posted on a web site today and had to share. For all of my friends down in North Carolina, I do sincerely hope there are not too many like this person running around without adult supervision. We have had people like this throughout the history of the country. Otherwise PT Barnum would […]

USS San Francisco SSN 711 Reunion

1MC: Attention All Hands, this is the Big Mac. The Reunion is On for 2013 Location: Norfolk Marriott Waterside, Norfolk Virginia Date: September 6-8 2013 Venue: Reservations: To receive the guaranteed rate of $100 per night, you must contact Marriott at either 1-800-228-9290 or 757-627-4200 anytime after 1 PM on June 28 or before […]

Its bigger than you think

3,531,905.43 square miles. That is roughly the area that makes up the United States of America. We are certainly not the biggest single nation but we are also not the smallest. Last night, I flew over the section of the country between Atlanta and Pittsburgh on my way home from a business trip. The night […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]