In Hawaii it was flying ants. They came once or twice a year and would swarm all over any light source. One evening it was so bad that we locked ourselves into one bedroom and put towels up against the bottom of the door and sweated in that airless, close room all night long. The next morning we swept up two dustpans full of dead ants, I guess they all don't make it. I think that the worst was Missouri where we had roaches. They were legion. They lived in any paper product, crack or crevice...

This last week, with D-Day celebrations and looking towards next week for Flag Day and the Army's 234th birthday, I have been thinking a lot about veterans and what they have done for us. Whenever my head turns that way I always settle upon the vets in my family and the two who mean the most to me: The Chief and my Uncle Dude. Every family has a story or two like this. I have heard several and even experienced one myself with my mom, Betty Lou. But today's story is about Uncle Dude. His name...

I bought the yellow 1969 GTO in 1973. It was freshly painted a Corvette yellow that looked a lot like a wax banana when it was polished up. It had a black vinyl top and upholstery. Factory 8-track tape, too. At the time we were living in Phoenix; it was an Arizona car which meant there was no rust or corrosion of any kind on it. It was cherry. And quick. We took a trip out to El Cajon to see the grandparents and folks out there, that Summer. Two small boys and one big dog. We stopped in Buck...

At the end of a rather disastrous two-and-a-half year experiment in civilian life, we were heading to Fort Ord. It was late June of 1974. We had left Phoenix and spent a couple days in San Diego to visit my folks, then aimed the pristine yellow 1969 GTO north for the Monterey Bay area. We stopped for lunch in Santa Maria. Getting off I-5 at the southern exit led us straight to a KFC right on the edge of town. That worked for us; we didn't know anyone there and didn't need to cruise town lookin...

Happy Billy Joe Day, y'all !!

I had my best friend take me to the bus station. I had him drive me there because I didn't want to see my Mom cry...and I didn't want her to see me cry. I had him drop me off at the bus stop because I didn't want him to see me cry, either. I was seventeen years old; I had talked Mom into signing my enlistment papers but she was not too sure about it. As I watched Chuck drive away, waving as he went, I wasn't too sure myself. But I was committed. The papers had been signed, the orders issued, bu...

The North Koreans have exploded a big bomb underground. We are debating if it was nuclear or not. The North Koreans have announced (shortly after claiming to be a nuclear power) that the peace treaty of 1953 no longer applies to them. So in effect, a state of war exists between the United Nations and North Korea. The North Koreans are launching a series of missile tests with missiles of varying ranges. Some that can barely get out of their own back yard and some that have a much longer ra...

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, one "holiday" I take very seriously. I know that most folks see it as another day off...brats or ribs on the grill...beer in the cooler...maybe a trip to the beach...etc. I am not trying to take any of that away from the day, I think it is cool to have a three-day weekend with all the things that go with it. I just want to share with you a few thoughts about why we have this holiday. As a nation, I think that we are better tuned into Memorial Day and its...

The Hyperborean Wanderer called his mom to wish her a happy Mothers Day today. The connection was as clear as a local call, with only a slight delay as the signal bounced across the ocean off a sattelite. She was thrilled to hear from him and they had a lengthy and happy conversation. I was proud of him. It made her day; she had heard from the other four today...gotten flowers and cards and little drawings from loving grandkids, calls from Texas and hugs galore. But the Wanderer's call was spec...

  Up until about late 1965, if you were an enlisted man traveling on orders to Germany, you reported to Fort Dix Replacement Depot (REPO-DEPOT) and sat around until they rounded up about 1999 others like you to fill up a troop ship. Travel on ships to Germany was the first common area new guys had with the old hands at their new duty stations. "What ship you come on?" "Rose...what a tub" "The Upshur is the worst" "Patch was a pretty good ride..." and so on. If you were one of the last to ...

I know that Pontiac has been nothing more than a fancy badged generic for a lot of years. Even the later model Firebirds were sportin' Chevy engines. But Pontiac had a certain appeal, and a loyal following. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around this. GM has just announced that Pontiac is going to join Oldsmobile in the cosmic junkyard of Auto-dom. I know that the muscle-car days have been dead and gone for a long time. The limp attempt at renewal (2004 GTO) fell flat on its face. Whi...

It was a quiet night. The two MPs guarding the gate to Echterdingen Army Airfield in Stuttgart were just sitting around being bored and shooting the bull. One of them began to fool around with his pistol. We were still carrying the reliable old M-1911A1, .45 cal pistols in those days. He slyly pulled the magazine out, hiding the action so his partner wouldn't see, then jammed the muzzle deep into his partners neck. His partner was understandably upset, he yelled and swore and the fella with th...

One of the places we lived in Germany was Mannheim. Actually, we lived in a suburb of Mannheim called Lampertheim, first. Then later we moved into military housing at Benjamin Franklin Village, near another Mannheim suburb, Kafertal. I was stationed at Coleman Barracks in Sandhofen, another little town near Mannheim, for the first year. Then I was transferred to Turley Barracks right in Mannheim. We were young and the little apartment over the shoe repair shop in Lampertheim was our first home...

One of the most interesting places I have lived is Stuttgart, Germany. Stuttgart was one of the cities that was severely damaged during WWII. Some sources say 45% destroyed. I am not sure how you measure that but the pictures of the downtown area show the Rathaus (City Hall) with only two walls standing. The buildings around the town square are piles of rubble, single walls surrounded by bricks and furniture and blocks and blocks of buildings are hollowed shells. Some buildings have one wall g...

Last year Ted showed off his guitar room.  I was not only impressed, I was totally jealous.  I don't get a room.  Best I can do is a corner in the basement office.  (Sigh).  So here's my corner.