I Wish Never To Be Needed Again

I have been closely following news reports about the Marysville-Pilchuck High School shooting tragedy. There is no way I can begin to understand or accept the magnitude of such a thing. In reading accounts of the events that unfolded, I found one act of particular interest. A first year Social Studies teacher, Megan Silberberger, heard […]

V-J Day And The Giant Smooch

V-J Day! August 14, 1945, President Harry S Truman announced Japan had surrendered, and the war was over; insurmountable joy bursting forth in that moment, one such expression caught forever in time by photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt. Over the years, several people have claimed to be the kissing couple in Times Square. I rather prefer their […]

Last Full Measure Of Devotion

March 29, 1973 Tan Son Nhut Airport, Saigon Under the terms of the negotiated peace agreement with North Vietnam, all U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam. U.S. troops filed into a C-130; Army Master Sergeant Max Beilke was the last in line to board the aircraft. Colonel Bui Tin, head of the North Vietnamese observer team, […]

To Hear Birdsong

Last night I dreamed about our old neighborhood fire station, again. It is a dream I have off and on, with no particular point to it, or message from it that I can discern. I am just happy when I do dream about it, and always wake with a sense I have been home. In […]

No Roar, No Drum

This time of year, because of events and anniversaries, personal and national, my thoughts often turn to heroism. I have debated the definition with more than one person, and keep neatly folded in one of my files a favorite Letter to the Editor I fired off in response to a column written by an editor […]