Author Archives: Douglas R. Satterfield
[June 4, 2026] My Soldiers remembered that day like it was Christmas morning at home when they were kids. I was traveling back from our Infantry company supply trains to the defensive front line when, there it was, about a dozen Soldiers milling around in an open field. It was August in Virginia; sunny, hot, humid. I would… Read More »
[June 3, 2026] Dorothea Brande’s book, Wake Up and Live! strikes at the heart of human failure. People drift in self-deception, half-alive, substituting busyness for purpose. Her formula, act as if it were impossible to fail. Doing so demands voluntary confronting difficulties in life. You do this like cleaning your room (like Dr. Jordan Peterson would say). It… Read More »
[June 2, 2026] From the Facebook Page of Bruce Willhoit, we learn that on 31 May 1864 in the American Civil War, the Battle of Cold Harbor began. It would be General Robert E. Lee’s last large-scale field victory of the war. But was this terrible tactical loss for Union forces nevertheless a strategic victory? The Facts: The… Read More »
[June 1, 2026] I had just finished my assignment as a Company Commander, my rank was Captain, and command had been my choice assignment. After the command position, typically an officer will fill a staff position, and I was immediately offered a Battalion S-1, Adjutant job. My response was simple: make me an adjutant, and I’ll quit. It… Read More »
[May 31, 2026] Call me crazy, but I’d swim any day with snakes in a river, as opposed to swimming with alligators. City folks might not understand why, so I’ll explain what I mean. But first, remember this rule: to swim with snakes, not with alligators. Snakes are just trying to swim and won’t bother you because they’re… Read More »
[May 30, 2026] I prided myself on knowing how to work with people, mostly military-aged adults with training on how to work as part of a team. I’d worked successfully, working my way up in rank and with greater responsibilities, including larger numbers of adults as my experience and responsibilities grew. Then, I met my future wife. What… Read More »
[May 29, 2026] Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote in his book, The Idiot (1868-69), “Beauty will save the world.” To emphasize the importance of that point, the famous Alexandre Solzhenitsyn quotes Dostoevsky in his 1970 Nobel Prize acceptance speech. What they meant is that while many things are of the highest importance to us such as truth, love, justice, and… Read More »
[May 28, 2026] In a society that devalues the father’s role and elevates the single mother, we have sown the seeds of failure in all our children. The world is a tough, dismal place. Without the encouragement of the real father, it is difficult to be courageous. This is a difficult but needed message from Dr. Jordan Peterson.… Read More »
[May 27, 2026] Political commentator Ben Shapiro, in his book Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics), tells us that the West is in a war for its survival. And, that this war is playing out both at the civilizational and personal level. His position is popular but also controversial. In a PragerU video,… Read More »
[May 26, 2026] Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a famous follower of Stoic philosophy. His personal reflections, known as Meditations (link to the translated PDF here), remain among the most influential and accessible works in Stoic philosophy. I’ve read the book and found it a valuable, rough guide to living a good… Read More »