Articles

In the fall of 1943 when my father was first stationed in New Guinea, he mentioned how much he enjoyed reading Yank. I had never heard of this publication so was curious about its contents and appeal. My early research revealed that Yank, The Army Weekly was first published in June 1942 and that it quickly became the most widely-read magazine in the history of the US military. With a worldwide circulation of 2.6 million copies, all content was created by enlisted active duty men for twenty-one weekly editions, distributed in seventeen countries. The reliable war accounts along with humorous […]

As National Military Appreciation Month comes to a close, I want to recognize and honor a special family member who served in WWII. Joseph Taylor Jett, my father’s youngest brother, was only sixteen when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but shortly thereafter he joined the State Guard while still in high school. The National Guard was called into active duty to support the depleted US Army immediately after the attack, and then a new organization called the State Guard or Home Guard was formed to recruit young men not yet eligible for the draft. Joe was one of the many young […]

Last Friday we focused on Bing Crosby whose birthday was May 3 and today, it’s time to celebrate his pal, Bob Hope also born in 1903 on the 29th. What drew these two guys together is unknown, but they had a great friendship and successful partnership. Plus, they both used their talents to support the troops. Bob’s first movie was The Broadcast of 1938, where he sang his signature song, Thanks for the Memories. Eventually he was in seventy-five movies and the most popular were the Road movies with his buddy Bing. During his lengthy one-hundred-year life span, he entertained […]

Samuel F.B. Morse formally opens the first telegraph line between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC in 1844. “What hath God wrought” was the first official message sent from the Capitol Building to Baltimore. Prior to inventing the telegraph, Morse was an accomplished portrait painter and artist. However, he was motivated to improve long distance communications after his wife’s death. Sadly, by the time he got the news of her illness and returned to their home, she had already died and been buried.