Bookworm Room

BUDS trainees during Hell Week Special troops are, by definition, small in number.  If everyone could do what they do, they would be special.  They are made up of men with unusual mental and physical strength.  Again, by definition this is a subset of all men.  (No disrespect meant to the majority of men who [...]

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Astute readers have probably figured out over the years that I’m a huge fan of our American military.  I think it’s the last institution in America that trains young people to be competent adults; that gives people, young and old, meaning and purpose in a world that’s often defined by mindless materialism; that truly serves [...]

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I don’t know where he found it, but The Mellow Jihadi has the most wonderful photograph, from 1950, showing a sailor politely admiring two WAVES aboard his ship. Aside from the photo’s naturally elegant composition, it has the feel, not just of another time, but of another universe altogether. Just contrast it with today’s Navy.

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Last night, I went to the Annual Pearl Harbor Memorial Dinner hosted by the San Francisco Commandery of the Naval Order of the United States.  It was, as I knew it would be, a significantly smaller event than the annual Midway Commemoration dinner.  That’s reasonable, because the latter celebrates a stunning victory, while the former [...]

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Let me start by saying that I am way too grown-up to say that something “rocks.”  Mine is a more dignified vocabulary.  Nevertheless, saying that the USS Carl Vinson rocks is the right way to start this post, because I want to discuss my visit to the USS Carl Vinson in the context of America’s [...]

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In honor of Fleet Week (which starts Saturday in San Francisco), I have three Navy/Marine related stories to relate and I want to promote a few of my favorite Navy related blogs. Story 1: My daughter has started a new school and is making new friends.  The other day, I met the Mom of one [...]

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Do you remember Johnny Carson’s droll “I did not know that”?  I do.  And that’s precisely what popped into my head when JKB sent me a link to a post discussing the fact that 161 years ago, the U.S. Navy outlawed flogging.  It’s a wonderful little story, especially because it combines three things I find [...]

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** Newsflash*** Heard on the popular “Don and Roma” show on WLS AM890 Radio during this morning’s Chicagoland commute: In his interview with the radio hosts, Illinois Senator and naval intelligence officer Mark Kirk explained that the U.S. policy toward Somali piracy is apparently to capture them and release them near their home ports, presumably [...]

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Because I was away, I missed the whole first impact of the Owen Honors thing, but for glimpsing a horrified PC headline on CNN while waiting for a flight.  That millisecond of MSM-manufactured finger-pointing was enough to clue me in to the fact that, if CNN disapproved, I probably wouldn’t be that shocked. Having watched [...]

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Follow the Fleet (1936) is one of my favorite Fred and Ginger movies.  Since I belong to the Navy League, and often post about the wonders of the U.S. Navy, I thought that this wonderfully clever Irving Berlin song might be a fun homage to the sailors:

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This past weekend’s sunny Saturday morning was a quintessential suburban spring day.  I gathered with hundreds of other families at a local high school for our children’s swim meet.  We traveled there in our comfortable cars, air conditioners blowing, driving over clean safe streets.  We all met up at the large, inviting pool, where we [...]

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I love kid logic.   I was telling my pre-teen daughter about the Navy SEALS (having just finished Lone Survivor), and I mentioned the incredible physical strength and mental stamina the men had.  “And the women….” she prompted me.  “Nope,” I said.  “No women.”  She stared at me.  “But don’t the men get lonely?”  That’s a [...]

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Project Valour-IT’s annual fundraiser ends tomorrow, so there’s still time to give. Remember, they give so much for us. Now it’s our turn to give back to them. And — Go Navy!

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These stories have nothing to do with each other.  I just thought each was interesting, and therefore pass them on to you: Americans are figuring out that global warming is a scam. That “missing link” is too distantt to be missing — and maybe it is connected to the first story, because both remind us [...]

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Thanks to the Navy League, I’ve just returned from a delightful evening aboard the USS Green Bay.  I knew the evening was going to be lovely even before I boarded the ship.  Although a nasty storm is threatening to hit the Bay Area tomorrow, the drive into the City was exquisite.  The air was clear, [...]

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Courtesy of the Navy League, we spent several hours yesterday enjoying the hospitality of the crew of the USCG Cutter Pike, an 87′ Marine Protector Class Coastal Patrol Boat.  In other words, we spent the afternoon on an active duty patrol boat.  Rather than a chronogical recitation of a day that was basically very relaxed [...]

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You know it’s been a good evening when Mom, Dad, and the kids all leave a party ebullient.  The party in question was a fund-raising reception aboard the USS Hornet, which is a floating museum.  The guests of honor were members of the Blue Angels team.  My husband was a bit dubious about the whole [...]

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My mind is full of Fleet Week events.  As in the past two years, it promises to be a very exciting week for me and my family.  I know I’m going to be on a Coast Guard boat on the Bay when the Blue Angels fly, I know I’m going to a reception to meet [...]

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