Letters to My Granddaughter, Epilogue [November 20, 2024] Here is some good news. That skinny small-town boy from the Deep South – and born on the bayou (like the 1969 CCR song) – turned out okay. I would marry and have two children; the happiest days of my life were their birth and their growing up. Nothing is… Read More »
[December 24, 2023] Four years ago, a small group of men – all acquaintances – were discussing “doing something” for their community. One of these men knew and befriended a World War II veteran and his devoted daughter. The veteran was a highly decorated Army medic. After the veteran passed away, his daughter suggested to the group that… Read More »
[December 17, 2023] The firetruck went screaming down the street with six or seven young men hanging onto the sides of the truck with one hand, holding their fireman’s helmets in place with the other, as they raced to put out a kitchen fire near my house. I was starstruck at the sight of such a fine display… Read More »
[November 27, 2023] Bonnie was my first “girlfriend.” I was six years old, and now as I look back from many decades and a number of girlfriends later, I didn’t actually know what having a girlfriend meant. Some folks will say it’s not possible for a boy to have a girlfriend so young when he is immature, unfocused,… Read More »
[August 25, 2023] The room smelled of stale cigarette smoke and spilled beer. My uncle DJ (Douglas James, and my namesake) Satterfield, much older than my dad served as a cook in the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. Later in life, he was a long-serving member of the Pine Bluff, Arkansas VFW, where he spent many… Read More »
General Doug Satterfield entered the U.S. Army on Active Duty in 1974 as a Private. After achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant in the Infantry, he returned to college and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. In his last military assignment, he was the Deputy Commanding General for an Engineer Command of 12,000 Soldiers and the Wartime Engineer for… Read More »
[July 25, 2023] I was in Seoul, Wonju, Daegu, and Busan, South Korea (home of 8th U.S. Army and United States Forces Korea) two winters ago. There, I had the pleasure of seeing troops perform as they went about their business of intense fieldwork. Their mission was to show the enemies of the United States and our Republic… Read More »
[July 12, 2023] I laughed through their entire skit. The PatriotTwins, ConservativeTwins, and HodgeTwins are YouTube shows by Kevin and Keith Hodge, aka the Hodge Twins, are some of the funniest stand-up comedians I’ve seen in a long time. They are described as “vocal conservatives” (see link), and what I like most about them is they make… Read More »
Edit [June 11, 2023] The funeral yesterday was conducted with just the right amount of planning to make it one of the best attended that I’ve seen in a long time. Many from the community were there to give their respects to the family of PFC Hartmann. There was no political grandstanding or long speeches. It was full… Read More »
[May 29, 2023] Memorial Day is a time of recognizing those military men and women who have given their lives for our nation. It is also a time of parades, speeches, cookouts, and the unofficial beginning of summer. Below is the Memorial Day speech that I gave nine years ago, at my retirement from 40 years in the… Read More »