America – and the world – has lost a real hero. Not someone who can throw a football farther or sink a long 3-pointer better because of physical prowess, but a man of great moral strength, legendary courage, ethics and patriotism – Colonel Bud Day. Senator John McCain credits Day with saving his life when both […]
MIA Forensics Lab Opens–Bravo!
“OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE — A forensics lab has opened at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha with a special mission: identify the remains of missing soldiers, sailors and airmen from past wars. The lab has been constructed inside a section of the massive former Martin bomber plant on the base, which is where the […]
Teddy Roosevelt’s “Socialist” Party Platform
With the Republican Convention in full swing this week, it’s worth taking a look at the third party platform of President Theodore Roosevelt, a GOP icon (“I love Teddy Roosevelt,” says Mitt Romney. “Anybody who says ‘Bully’ is a friend of mine.“) The formerpresident founded the Progressive Party (aka Bull Moose Party) because he was disappointed […]
The German General Who Told Hitler to Go Screw Himself
I am fascinated by colorful historical characters, especially military or naval figures. Very few of these people could be considered truly heroic. One of the rare exceptions is Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of a small German army – largely composed of black troops – that fought the British Empire in East Africa during World […]
THE DEATH OF CHIVALRY
My agent, Jody Rein, recently introduced me to an interesting piece in the New York Times about the influence of Sir Walter Scott’s literature on Southern attitudes during the Civil War. The NYT commentary said Scott’s “highly idealized depiction of the age of chivalry allowed Southern readers and writers to find positive meaning in war’s […]
