[February 10, 2021] “Look at that, it’s weird,” my best childhood friend Wilson was transfixed. Hanging behind the bar in the small town we grew up in was a Gadsden flag with the words Don’t Tread on Me in bold letters. We were attempting to sell empty coke bottles1 to the bartender when the sheriff arrived and escorted… Read More »
[February 9, 2021] I’ve written of many battles in my leadership blog and frequently gave accounts of heroism, lessons learned, the horrors, and the struggle of the ordinary foot soldier and basic seaman. No other battle – actually a series of battles over six months – portrays the American spirit in times of great difficulty than the Battle… Read More »
[February 8, 2021] My final trip home to New York City after retiring from the U.S. Army took me through the Atlanta Airport; the largest airport in the U.S. Atlanta remains a central air-transport hub and is the site of the biggest USO on the East Coast. As I walked into this USO, it brought back fond memories… Read More »
[February 7, 2021] I spent my first year in the U.S. Army as a Private (E-1, in military jargon). A private is the lowest rank, least experienced, most impressionable soldier. They make up the largest population of soldiers, and we find lots of them on the battlefield. My peers from the Officer corps put little faith in them. … Read More »
[February 6, 2021] Two days ago, I attended a Vietnam War veteran’s funeral. The turnout was about 35 people, family, and many older veterans who knew him. A good number of attendees, in my estimation, given that we are in the middle of a pandemic. We were curious why vaccinations were so few in our state. In this… Read More »
[February 1, 2021] My Junior High School civics teacher had been some kind of counter-intelligence official during WW2. I remember nothing about him other than his wartime service and the time we studied propaganda. He told a bunch of wide-eyed kids that someday we would need what he was saying. He was right. Propaganda is a form of… Read More »
[January 24, 2021] As a junior military officer, I put in some long hours getting my Soldiers ready for the day we would be called into combat. It was hard work. At least I thought it was hard work. Guess what? I did not know what it meant. We are told that “the early bird gets the worm,”… Read More »
[January 23, 2021] Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. As a child, my friend Wilson was always looking to earn a few quarters. Like me, he had an independent mind, a willingness to work, and a desire to be a good Christian. That’s why he took the job of pickle barrel cleaner. His… Read More »
[January 22, 2021] Many years ago, shortly after the tragic events of 9/11, when Muslim terrorists hijacked three commercial airliners, crashing them, and killing nearly 3,000 Americans, two of my soldiers said something that surprised me. The events of September 11, 2001, were fresh in our minds when these Soldiers said they wished they were on those airplanes.… Read More »
[January 20, 2021] I’ve been a huge baseball fan, since before I can even remember. My dad would sit me in front of the radio, as a toddler, to listen to our favorite team play; the New York Yankees. Growing up, I collected baseball cards and watched every game I could. And today, I’m still in possession of… Read More »