We Regret to Inform You… January 1942 and the aftermath of Pearl Harbor

We regret to inform you. The attack on Pearl Harbor was so swift and deadly that the military was not prepared to deal with the consequences of not being prepared for war: Identifying the souls lost and notifying the families about their loss. Considering the number of dead and wounded, it should not be a […]

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 […]

How could you be so mean? I mean, that person is a veteran!

How could you be so mean? I mean, that person is a veteran! A veteran is someone who once raised their right hand and promised to do whatever was required to defend the nation. Veterans on the whole are honorable people who deserve the thanks of the nation. Since retiring in 1994, I have been […]

We Build, We Fight

I love a good John Wayne Movie. One of my favorites has always been the Fighting Seabees. March 5 is recognized as the official birthday of the Seabees and I salute all of the men and women who have served in this vital part of the US Armed Forces. From World War 2 to present, […]

Happy Hat Day – 2020

I was thinking last night how many hats I have worn in the course of my lifetime. I think as a child you wear a lot of hats in the winter time and of course there is the baseball cap in the summer. But for the longest time, I did not want to wear a […]

Thank you for your service… A new Way to Show your Thanks

We have many people in our country that are hurting. Veterans are very high on that list. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in many younger veterans joining the ranks of the older vets that served with honor but now need some extra help. Those younger families are often the first ones […]

After the parades are over…

The Day After Veteran’s Day Proud… standing straight and erect with shoulders held back and eyes focused forward with a steel and resiliency that is unquestionable. Months of practice have made sure that even a sudden noise won’t change that. Crisp uniforms, flawless creases, perfect lines and hands glued in place at their sides. Chiseled […]

Veteran’s Day 2019 – Neptune’s Cadillac Redux

Veteran’s Day is about remembering the men and women who sacrificed so much for the country. If you asked most of us, and we were honest. We would simply say that we did our jobs This article came from the Honolulu Advertiser and was written about the USS San Francisco shortly after we made the […]

A Gathering of the Saints

This is the first post I have done in about a week. Summertime seems to be a tough time to write posts and looking back over the last eight years, July has always been the lowest response month for the blog. As someone who fills in for vacationing preachers in the summer, I am fully […]