The Leadership Conundrum – Dealing with People

The Leadership Conundrum A conundrum is described as a problem that is difficult to deal with. The Navy spends a lot of time in the education and development of its leadership. The organization has evolved over the centuries from a very autocratic structure that involved corporal punishment to a more nuanced organization that recognizes the […]

Leadership Lessons from a Mop

It has been nearly forty eight years since I learned my first lesson on leadership. In June of 1972, I headed off to boot camp to join the thousands of other young men about to become part of the US Navy. Boot Camp is the testing period where you are physically challenged, mentally strengthened […]

“The submarines could lick us” … 1950 – The submarine missile threat emerges

THE SUBS COULD LICK US With the Second World War less than five years in the past, Naval Authorities were sounding the alarm that technology was about to let the Soviets take a leap forward in the ever expanding chess game called the Cold War. As this article relates, the Soviets were already beginning […]

It was never easy

It was never easy On the day I retired from the Navy, my crew presented me with a shadow box. That box sits on my desk and I look at it from time to time when I am not typing stories or checking out the latest on the Internet. It’s a nice box with beveled […]

A little respect… 42 years later, its still not that big of a deal

Recently I was following a post on one of my submarine Facebook pages. The original guy had posted about a lack of recognition. To be fair, he had a lot of supporters and frankly I can’t give him a hard time since I have seen some of this through the years myself. “Okay I have […]

The Measure of a Man

I have been infatuated with the United States Navy since I was a small boy. Wearing my Dad’s old Navy uniforms while pretending to be part of McHale’s Navy was a routine part of growing up. I think I read every book in the school’s library that was even remotely related to the Navy and […]

Miscellaneous… 1940

Miscellaneous… The Bluejackets Manual has been the mainstay for educating sailors since 1902. Prior to that time, the sailors were considered to be too illiterate to merit having a manual with instructions on how to be an American Bluejacket. For a hundred and twelve years, the manual has undergone a number of revisions to reflect […]

“Love, Your Son Butch” – Chapter 2

Just a short note before I return to the book. Today (April 27 2013) is the twentieth anniversary of the day John C. MacPherson met Jesus face to face. I’m not sure what time of day it was and frankly at this point it doesn’t matter. On the morning, I was up well before the […]

Love, Your Son Butch, Chapter One

Twenty years ago this month, my Dad finally lost his battle with heart disease and went to be with his Lord. The week after his death, I found a box in the basement of our old house that had all of his letters home from World War 2. Over the next ten years, I plugged […]

“Love, Your Son Butch” – Introduction (April 2013)

Introduction John C. MacPherson, Jr. was seventeen years old when he joined the United States Navy. Over the next seventeen months, he wrote a number of letters to his family. The letters were signed with John’s many names: Sonny, Foo, Butch, and Goofer. But in most cases they ended with two common phrases: “God be […]