“My child is a submariner… I’ll sleep when they come home”

I will never forget that day in June 1972 when my parents came to Pittsburgh International Airport to see me off on my way to Boot Camp. I was not the first in my family to leave home (big brother went to a nearby college three years earlier) but I was the first to go […]

Rights come with Responsibilities – Or Do They?

Memorial Day has been a special event in my family’s life ever since Great Grandfather Mac donned his Grand Army of the Republic Uniform and marched in his first parade. The men who returned from the War Between the States felt it was their duty and honor to remember the sacrifices of so many men […]

Memorial Day – Planting a New Seed

Planting a new Seed This was a different kind of Memorial Day for our family. Our recorded history of participation in services goes back to right after the Civil War when communities all across the nation were still trying to adjust to the shocking death toll brought on by the late war. Unlike the wars […]

Listen… that is the sound of freedom you hear

I have many heroes and men that I admire. The swaggering sailor in the middle is my favorite. He was also the epitome of how we should recognize Memorial Day. I will be thinking about him a lot over the next two days as we visit the quiet and secluded graveyards along the Monongahela in […]

Silent Service: Submarine Warfare in WW2

As Memorial Day 2015 approaches, I am once again reminded that submarine sailors paid a heavy price during the second World War in a way that is vastly more expensive that nearly any other type of war fighting based on a per capita measurement. This video certainly captures many of the issues they faced.

New Years Day 2015

Thanks for dropping by. We got up a little late this morning since we tried to see the New Year in last night. Then we had a short meal, a few quiet moments writing in the new “Journal”, and some very sincere praying. The journal was a gift from a family member and asks you to […]

The Submariner’s Lament; When you remember

The story called “When you understand” was posted originally on Facebook in April 2014. It has been shared over 9711 times in the time it has been on Facebook On May 22, 2018, the short story I composed in October of 2014 (originally titled “When you understand”) was formally registered with the United States Copyright Office with the […]

Remembering the Missing … Until they all come home

How we remember our fallen says a lot about us. The same can be said about how we never forget those left behind. No matter where you are this Memorial Day, at 3:00 PM, stop what you are doing and pray for those who never made it home. Then pray for peace for the families […]

Remembering those who waited at home – Gold Star Mothers

The joy of giving birth to a brand new life has been described as one of the most significant moments in a woman’s life. For the following months and years, she feeds and clothes and nurtures that child until one day comes and the child becomes a man or a woman and goes off […]