When it comes to the American military, you rarely see an image of a US Army, Navy, Marine, or Air Force officer in a blue beret. To be sure, in the Army there are different colored headgear, as we would say, including some berets. Maroon for the Airborne, tan for Rangers, green Read more…
I watch less television these days. There’s too much nonsense that substitutes for news, like people who “lose it” in a fast food drive-through because their order was wrong or people who call 911 because they can’t find the remote control. Notwithstanding these silly things, the most irritable aspects of television these Read more…
A symptom of a healthy republic is the willingness of good and decent people to offer themselves for public service. Emphasis on “service.” In my time in the Virginia General Assembly, for instance, I observed there were three kinds of people who populated elective office. First, there were those who “wanted to Read more…
The expression “children should be seen and not heard” has its roots, some say, in an English proverb of the 15th century. I think this saying would be appropriate for our times. It could be applied to a huge swath of politicians, talking heads in the media, cable television hosts who are more interested Read more…
I missed a few lessons early in life. But I caught up later, thanks in part to several wise mentors who showed up to fill in the gaps in my knowledge with practical experience. It should be no surprise to anyone that much that anyone gathers in the wisdom business is tied Read more…
In 2005, I had my first hip surgery. If you’ve ever had true hip pain, you know how debilitating it is. The week prior to my surgery, the spurs and rough surfaces on my hip joint were awful. Ouch. So, at 54 years old, I decided it was time for a steel hip with Read more…
I’m not an economist. That’s good because I didn’t accumulate impressive grades when I took college economics. In fact, after that experience, I resolved being an economist wasn’t my vocation. Being a soldier was preferable to supply and demand curves and economy theory. Besides, market forces—if trusted—work well without the interference of economic and Read more…
This week Shelley and I departed for the Midwest to visit children and grandchildren and attend an annual reunion with the 1st Infantry Division officers I served with in war and peace. I write about many of them in Desert Redleg: Artillery Warfare in the First Gulf War. I have known many very Read more…
That we have a crisis in fatherhood in American is as plain as the next crime committed by a young male, of any race, in any place, and without regard to the appalling nature of the crime. In almost every case I know of, when a young male subject perpetrates a Read more…
In the fall of 1968, I was considering where to go to college the following September. I was ambivalent and not a strong student. To be sure dyslexia and lousy study habits did nothing to improve my grades. I thought about different colleges. I would pore over the college guides in our school library Read more…