[May 11, 2020] I first met Bob Martin standing guard on a small bridge near my Engineer headquarters back in 2004, just as the Coalition was readying itself for a major offensive. What none of us knew at the time was that U.S. Marine Pvt Robert “Bob” Martin would soon show extraordinary bravery. This is his story of… Read More »
[May 10, 2020] In the late 1960s, my friend Wilson and I watched an adventure television episode of The Rat Patrol. This television series loosely based on the actual World War II exploits of the allied Australian, New Zealander, and British defenders of Tobruk, Libya. The Siege of Tobruk by German forces in 1941, commanded by Field Marshall… Read More »
[May 5, 2020] There are a lot of Philadelphia Eagle fans who live all around me. Since our town is only one hour from Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, the allegiance to a great football team is to be expected. One of their tough guy players from the 1950s and 60s, Chuck Bednarik, holds special attention as one of… Read More »
[May 3, 2020] Charlie Coyle was a tail gunner on a Boeing B17 Flying Fortress bomber during the last two years of World War II. I got to know Charlie after meeting him at an antique airshow in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1993. Charlie would have turned 95 years-old today but passed away last year where he lived in… Read More »
[April 21, 2020] In early spring of 1942, there was little that citizens of Paris cold look forward to during their German occupation. The Nazi war machine had taken nearly all of Europe, and the “city of lights” was now under the oppressive thumb of the German military. Shortly after noon on one sunny day, a lone RAF… Read More »
[April 19, 2020] Today, I would like to take a moment to discuss the novel, The Red Badge of Courage (1895)1 and link ideas in this fictional account of war to modern thinking on soldiering. As a young teenager, I discovered an old paperback copy stuffed in the back of my grandfather’s tool shed. My grandfather was born… Read More »
[April 16, 2020] It has been simply too long since I wrote an article about a hero. It goes without saying that we still need heroes, especially in our modern world. We need heroes precisely because they define the limits of our ideals, hopes. and dreams. That is precisely what U.S. Army Private Desmond Doss has done for… Read More »
[April 13, 2020] American novelist Ernest Hemingway once wrote that “courage is grace under pressure.” Having spent many decades in the U.S. Army, I can attest to the truth of Hemingway’s quote. An old, grizzly Marine gunny sergeant once told me that in combat, you had better keep your head or the enemy will. Today, my topic is… Read More »
[April 2, 2020] Today, I have a little lighthearted story to tell. A friend of mine from Chicago wrote me the other day to pass along an interesting story about a retired British Navy Admiral. The admiral was approaching the age of 80 and wanted a young person to help out around the house, engage in basic health… Read More »
[March 30, 2020] I do not write enough about cowardice, nor about treason. It is my sincere belief that both behaviors demonstrate an inherent, elemental weakness in all humans. In the religious world, we call these weaknesses by the name “sin.” And while these transgressions against others are odious, some are worse than others. My question is, “What… Read More »