Film producer Spike Lee has jumped into the Vietnam War genre with his film Da Five Bloods, now featured on Netflix. I was asked to share my thoughts on the work, so keeping in mind I am far from unbiased or a professional film […]
Category: War and Military Stories
Each Memorial Day brings memories of my friend Bill Follon. Bill and I were stationed together at Phu Cat airbase during the Vietnam War. Bill was assigned to the Red Horse squadron, an Air Force unit comparable to the Navy Seabees. I worked with […]
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes. ~Voltaire               A Sad Day in History April 30, 2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. […]
It seems I had been drawn into another lost cause. ~Joe                Noah, future star of the Silver Screen? As many know, most of the characters in my books are based on real people. However, one character in my book, Noah, […]
If you expected everything to make sense, you were soon disappointed. ~Joe   Scrounging for Parts in a Two Hundred Billion Dollar War For almost one month during my fun filled, all-expense paid visit to Vietnam in 1970, I was a member of an aircrew. President Richard Nixon’s program of […]
                                  Introduction My friend Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese citizen who escaped Vietnam in 1970, the same year as my military service in that war torn nation. I did not know Le Ly at that time and would not come to know of her until I read her amazing book When Heaven & […]
                               Friction in Hong Kong                                         November, 2019 With much interest, I have been following the riots and protests currently ravaging Hong Kong. Ever since the transition from British oversite to Communist Chinese control in 1997, one could sense the on- going tension between Hong Kong, long a bastion of capitalism and the […]
                              Introduction In June of this year, along with my friend George Dooley, I attended an air show in Port Angeles, Washington. My wife Ann and I had spent two weeks in the Pacific Northwest, taking in many fantastic sites while visiting George and his wife, Diane. (Reference earlier blog article Amtrak Empire Builder, […]
                                    Introduction Tom Keating, a writer, served in the United States Army, Long Binh in the Republic of Vietnam, from 1969 to 1970. He served with the 47th Military History Detachment, attached to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Logistical Command, and Headquarters Company, US Army Vietnam, (USARV) also in Long Binh. Twice awarded […]
                                  An Angel in Blue This week’s guest writer is Penni Evans. Penni began writing poetry and short essays at the age of fifteen. Encouraged by her grandmother, Amah, herself a writer, Penni dreamed of far-away places and world travel. After she earned […]