Code Talker by Chester Nez and Judith Scheiss Avila

[CATEGORIES: Book Review, WWII, veterans.] Subtitled: "The first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of WWII", by Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila. Code talkers were Navajo Indians who developed an unbreakable English-Navajo-English code used while fighting the Japanese in WWII Pacific. This book is great storytelling. I had the …

Lapham’s Quarterly Winter 2008: States of War (Final review)

[CATEGORIES: Literature, Lapham's Quarterly, Reading, Book Review] Oh. This IS nasty business. If you thought INTOXICATION (Winter 2013 issue) was an unpleasant topic "you ain't seen nothin' yet". Winter 2008: States Of War is Lewis Lapham's first issue and he pulls no punches. No tiptoeing into the public arena for this literary journal. Wasn't I …

Timberwolves Europe 2013, Footsteps in Zundert, Aachtmaal, Etten, and Leur, NL. 5 May.

[Categories: TRAVEL, PHOTOGRAPHY, EUROPE, WWII] (See previous posts for what this tour is about.) (As always, click on photos to enlarge or play movie.) Today is a 'simpler' day than Dutch Remembrance Day. We do a driving tour past many battlefields of the 104th Infantry Division in Southern Holland. The farm land is flat, as …

Timberwolves Europe 2013, Dutch Remembrance Day, 4 May.

[Categories: TRAVEL, PHOTOGRAPHY, EUROPE, WWII] (See previous posts for what this tour is about.) I'm not going to be able to keep up with the activity. It is Dutch Remembrance Day today (honoring all war-dead) and we have a ceremony in Wuustwezel, Belgium with the British WWII 'Polar Bears' (the 49th West Riding Infantry Division) …

Timberwolves Europe 2013, On The Road to Breda, 3 May.

[Categories: TRAVEL, PHOTOGRAPHY, EUROPE, WWII] (See previous posts on what this tour is about.) Today we depart Amsterdam for Breda, NL. Pictures say it all else it would take a book to describe just this one day. (Click on photos to enlarge or play.) You're either on the bus or off the bus. A little …

Timberwolves Europe 2013: Early arrival, Anne Frank, Meet and Greet. 2 May.

[Categories: TRAVEL, PHOTOGRAPHY, EUROPE, WWII] M'lady and I depart and thus arrive 1 day early for the Timberwolves tour explained in my previous post. Colorado sunrise on departure day Tue. 30 Apr: (Taken with my iPhone5 while letting the dog out in the back yard. Click on photos to enlarge.) One can never have too …

Pulling Our Forces from Europe – Coffman’s Washington Roundup 2.10.2012

[Following is a recent email from my Congressman, 6th Congressional District Colorado, to his constituents. I like Coffman. He is ex-military and a former Colorado State Treasurer. He is a hard-working congressman.] Dear Friends, The Cold War ended in 1989, yet we still have 79,000 troops stationed in Europe with 45,000 of them in Germany …

Timberwolves Pups Reunion 2011 (120 photos), by John Holmes

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.  (Previous ad courtesy Snapfish.  You will need a free account to view the photos.  You can unsubscribe from future emails and remain fairly unharassed.) Click here to view …

The Price of Freedom

Men and women.  That's the price of freedom. Living and dead.  Yes, yes, "...in the long run we all are dead" (Keynes).  The price of freedom is that a lot of people don't get a chance at the long run.  They die too soon, too young, on a distant, unfamiliar battlefield somewhere. I was visiting …

Timberwolf WWII KIA SSG Roy C. Hill and Robert A. Olmsted

Attached is a PDF file with information on Roy C. Hill. TimberwolvesKIA_RoyHill Attached is a PDF file with information on Robert A. Olmsted. TimberwolvesKIA_RobertOlmsted

Good fiction themes

I wish I could write fiction. The likelihood of that happening is the same as "I wish I was taller". I admire anyone who can make up a story. The more they can make up, and the more engrossing it is, the more I admire them. Still, I was contemplating a fiction theme, or plot, …

You don’t have to thank me for my service

You can if you want to, of course.  You can and perhaps should thank any other veteran for their service.  Those that served in the military, whether in times of peace or war, were in the forefront of keeping this country’s residents free to pursue their life, liberty, and happiness.  Many made the ultimate sacrifice …