[May 24, 2025] Over these next few days, I’m going to highlight a few stories that I think regular readers might enjoy. Memorial Day is special day of remembrance for me, like it was to the World War One Doughboy next door that is the subject of this article. He came over to shake my hand. My new… Read More »
[February 21, 2025] The day begins badly. It’s Sunday, January 21st; we begin our day attending a memorial service for an Engineer Soldier killed in the line of duty. I sit in a row of chairs reserved for Colonels and Sergeant Majors, front row. Oddly, beside me is an empty chair with COL White’s name affixed. He is… Read More »
[February 19, 2025] It was time for our Engineers to get to work. We’d received approval from “General O” ( LTG Ray Odierno) to move forward with the hard planning necessary to accommodate the incoming Surge. By this time in the war, the U.S. government had agreed to follow both the rules, guidelines, and standards of both the… Read More »
[February 13, 2025] I was one of the few General Officers who publicly denounced the renaming of U.S. military bases. Fort Bragg was named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg, and founded during World War I. Presumably, some Confederate General names were used as part of a broader effort to bring the North and South back together. But now,… Read More »
[December 21, 2024] I arrived at college after completing my enlisted tour of duty with GI Bill in hand. My goal was to finish the last two years of my degree in engineering and return to military service. But I needed more money. Taking a job in a security firm the following summer, I was assigned to one… Read More »
[December 9, 2034] Aaron Elson is the son of a World War 2 combat veteran. After Aaron’s dad was hospitalized in 1980, Aaron bought a Sony Recording Walkman to use in one-on-one interviews with the soldiers of his dad’s unit – the 712th Tank Battalion. Later, he would interview troops from all branches of the U.S. military. The… Read More »
[September 27, 2024] I’m back with another great book telling the stories that need telling about dustoff pilots in the Vietnam War. The first book was “The Helicopter Whisperers, Vol I” by Phil Marshall, which I reviewed here on Monday (see link). Today, I will highlight COL Doug Moore’s book “A Bullet Through the Helmet” and, yes, the… Read More »
[September 16, 2024] A few days ago, while attending a Veterans’ event locally, the guest speaker (a highly respected U.S. Marine) asked me when I retired, and I told her it was now ten years ago. She was interested in my view of today’s military and whether leadership in our Armed Forces has improved. There were media folks… Read More »
[August 20, 2024] I’ll be upfront with you guys today. What follows is an advertisement – of sorts – for Fr. Jim Drucker’s radio program. I’m hawking his radio program; you don’t want to miss it. He’s a retired Catholic Priest, USAF Catholic Chaplain, Desert Storm Veteran, and a popular radio program host. Known around the area as… Read More »
[August 15, 2024] In the summer of 1967, when I was about to turn 15, the Academy Award-winning war movie “The Dirty Dozen” came out in theaters in my new Texas town, much to my happy surprise. I’d never seen anything like it; in the film, many of the worst convicts-turned-soldiers were given a top-secret mission to pull… Read More »