I didn’t march today. But I did remember

Fifty years ago today I marched in the Elizabeth Pennsylvania Memorial Day Parade. It was a family tradition for a number of years and in 1972 it would be my last one as a civilian. I had already joined the Navy in the delayed entry program and would leave a few weeks later. I remember […]

1927 – The Submarine Myth and the Ace of the Pacific

1927 The back-and-forth argument about the significance of submarines continued in a variety of ways in 1927. The British continued their aggressive campaign of influence to demonstrate the need to abolish the boats while the original defenders in American and elsewhere continued to predict that they would become even more important in the future conflicts. […]

Letters from Home – Lifelines in a Sea of Loneliness

Mail Call Anyone from my generation and before who has ever served in the military is aware of how important letters are when you are away from home. They are truly the connection you have to a place where “normal” lives despite the chaos of your current situation. With the internet, my nephews told me […]

May you live long enough that you long for your past despite the hardships and difficulties.

The definition for nostalgia that comes from Webster’s Dictionary include these: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period of irrecoverable condition the state of being homesick With apologies to Webster and company, this is my definition: May you live long enough that you long for your past despite […]

Christmas in Manila – 1945

Merry Christmas. Simple words of greeting that have been shared all over the world in so many languages. But often the greeting is sent from far away from home. In December 1945, my Dad was working as part of the post war draw down in Manila. He had entered the war on March 8th, 1945 […]

Two Fine men

Two fine men. John MacPherson and John Dixon were proud veterans that served their community side by side for years. They lived in a time where segregation had been a part of their world growing up and they could have used that as a reason to never work together. But these two fine men set […]

Happy Father’s Day 2020… to the Dad’s who didn’t quit

Where are the fathers? Happy Father’s Day. The words come tripping off the tongue with such ease, we forget what they are supposed to mean. We forget that this was meant to be the one day in the year where we could pay honor and respect to the men who didn’t just help to create […]