3800 of the best and brightest

Yesterday was Pennsylvania’s annual FBLA conference. The three training sessions were great! The young people who attended were very engaged and challenged me on some very good points. The subject was leadership but covered three areas that I feel from my education and experience are important to developing yourself and others. Those three things are […]

One of the greatest men I ever knew… Uncle Jack

I am a traditionalist and still believe in the idea that you respect your elders. The elders I am referring to came from a different time (in my case most were of the World War 2 generation). Jack Stuart Patrick was no exception. Like all men, he had parts of his life that he lived […]

How Hef saved the world from Communism

I first published this post in 2012. On September 27, 2017 Hugh Hefner Passed away at the age of 91. When asked how he would like to be remembered he said: “I would like to be remembered as somebody who has changed the world in some positive way, in a social, sexual sense, and I’d […]

Fenian Ram: The Green Submarine

Any submariner worth his salt has heard of a good Irishman named John Phillip Holland and his submarine design changed the way wars would be fought at sea forever. On March 17, 1898, St. Patrick’s Day, Irish-born engineer John Philip Holland demonstrated a submarine he designed, the Holland VI, for the U.S. Navy Department, off […]

So you want to be a Submariner? (circa 1943)

Every American Bluejacket from the early 1900’s to today receives a copy of the Bluejacket’s Manual. The books were written to help supplement the knowledge of men who were being brought into the Navy. Many times, they lacked even a high school education although over the last century that has been less and less. Newer […]

The Price of Wishful Thinking … Sinking the American Fleet

When I see an internet news story like the recent one detailing the shrinking of the American fleet, I get a kick out of reading the comments in the remarks sections. If you ever want to determine the lack of knowledge of the average internet news story reader, spend a few minutes looking at […]

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

I don’t believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at. ~Maya Angelou If you are lucky in life, you get to have a real brother. This is no reflection on my actual siblings […]

You are sooooo dumb!

1968 is often called one of the most pivotal years in the second half of the 20th century. Even by today’s post 911 standards, many key events happened that would shape the way American’s would view themselves and our place in the world. January kicked off the whirlwind of events that literally transformed us from […]

SSN 711 – That fateful day on January 8th

In January 2005, an event happened on the USS San Francisco (SSN 711) that serves as a reminder that even in this day of modern technology and science, the ocean is still mightier in its capability to test man’s limitations. On January 8th 2005 at 0243 GMY, she collided with a sea mount resulting […]

The Flowers of The Forest

In the misty legends of Scotland, there are many songs that are interwoven with the victories and defeats of her native sons in glorious conflicts. The great pipes blew violently across the field as part of the offensive tactics of the Chiefs. You can almost feel them pierce the air of a cold Scottish morning […]