Articles

Each month I create a preliminary schedule of potential blog topics, but there’s often an unexpected person, event or activity that grabs my attention that I write about instead. Such is the case today. While I was involved in a flurry of veteran activities in November, the person that inspired me the most was Shana Edwards. This petite, soft spoken high school student, the Arizona winner of the 2017 Voice of Democracy essay contest, was a speaker at the Veterans Day ceremony in Anthem, Arizona. Although I could barely see her from where I sat, her words rose above the […]

What is the similarity of Poppy, Remembrance, Veterans and Armistice days? Each of these is celebrated on November 11 to recognize and honor war veterans in countries throughout the world. But are they related? I recently became curious about the origins of Veterans Day after discovering a reference to Armistice Day in my mother’s diary. She mentioned the November 11 holiday in two separate 1941 and 42 entries. In the fall of 1942, my dad was in basic training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and she wanted to tell him about her Armistice Day activities. When I read her comments, I […]

A small, non-descript package greeted me last week when I opened my mail box. Partially hidden among bulging weekly ads and other junk mail, its contents were a mystery. Was it an unsolicited medical device typically marketed to seniors over the phone or a late birthday present from a friend? I knew I had not ordered such an item, and it was much too late to be a birthday gift. So I was curious about what was inside the small, padded brown envelope with a return address of TACOM, PO Box 57997, Philadelphia, PA, as the only clue. As I […]

The instructions said to meet at 109 East Palace in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There were few details about this place except that was where the journey would begin. This small nondescript office was off the beaten path, and many walked right past it. Yet a steady stream of scientists, engineers and army officials converged there briefly to begin their secret work on Project Y. Seventy-four years later, it was still easy to walk past this unassuming Santa Fe style doorway. I know that to be true as I walked past that door many times over the past three years. […]