“Oh Annie, Dream Boat Annie, ship of dreams, Oh Annie, Dream Boat Annie, little ship of dreams.” ∼Heart *** During the two weeks Ann was hospitalized before she passed, she wasn’t always able to communicate, but during those times that she was, we reconnected to some of […]
George Dooley and I became friends back in the early 1970’s. I was still in the U.S. Air Force stationed at March Air Force Base near Riverside, California, while George had gotten out of the Air Force after having served four years. George was living in Southern California and we met through a […]
We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. ∼Henry David Thoreau In the late 1970’s I attended a one-month technical seminar in downtown Chicago. I was working as an engineer for a manufacturing company in Northern Illinois, and they had bought into a new technology which […]
My guest writer, Tom Keating is a U.S. Army, Vietnam War veteran and fellow author. Tom’s book, Yesterday’s Soldier, is the coming of age story, of a young man in troubled times. Tom has also penned several short stories, including two which were earlier posted on my blog: Christmas 1969 and A Convoy […]
Former Green Bay Packer quarterback John Hadl recently passed away at the age of 82. Hadl, a very good QB in his day, was traded to Green Bay at the age of 34 and his best days were behind him. It was 1974, several years past the golden era of Vince Lombardi. If […]
Jimmy Fox, a U.S. Army Vietnam War Veteran and I became acquainted at a Veteran’s event some years ago, and I am proud to count him among my friends. Jimmy has penned several writings on the war. He appeared earlier as a guest writer on my blog, featuring his excellent essay No Peace. How […]
The French “tricolor” flew over Vietnam for many years When the French colonized Vietnam in the eighteen hundreds, they created discord that would trouble the small nation into the nineteen hundreds and beyond. This discord created divisiveness in several interrelated areas, or factors. Those being: *Economic *Religious *Social *Ethnic *Nationalism *Political And all […]
What we learn with pleasure, we never forget. ∼Alfred Mercier *** I somehow managed to snag two higher education degrees in my day, one in engineering and the other in business, and with them I made my living. Having those two disciplines served me well throughout my career; not bad for […]
Donald Ranard was an English teacher in Laos from 1973 to 1975 under the Fulbright program. One of Donald’s published works is a telling of his experience during the communist takeover of Laos, which occurred not long after the communist takeover of Vietnam. Donald’s story is compelling, and well written, please enjoy it. […]
Money is the best deodorant. ~Elizabeth Taylor One of the many interesting people I’ve become acquainted with during my many trips around the sun, was “William E”. (We shall leave out his full name for the sake of confidentiality) William E and I were stationed together at Grand Forks […]