Fifty years ago, I was actively involved in the Bicentennial Support Group at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. I was serving on ACDUTRA, which stands for active duty for training, as part of my enlistment in the United States Naval Reserve. I had volunteered for this four years earlier after being invited to participate in the … Read more
On August 25, 1972, we picked up our new seabags, which were full of the uniforms we had received after the first two days of recruit training and walked in company file from Camp Barry to Camp Moffit, the main area of Recruit Training Command at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Most of us … Read more
The Women by Kristin Hannah My rating: 5 of 5 stars It is a powerful historical novel about the courageous nurses and other women who served in Vietnam. This book was recommended by my daughter and another person I volunteer with. There were many things I could identify with. I was a US Navy Hospital … Read more
It’s become customary to thank veterans nationwide with this terse response. Whenever I see active-duty folks in airports or supermarkets, I make it a point to walk up, extend a hand, and thank them for their service. Just this week while attending a St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball contest I walked up to a couple … Read more
I’ve been following the NYSCATE Conference on Twitter using their conference hashtag #NYSCATE22. This has become an annual event for me to attend via the Twitterverse. I last attended NYSCATE as a presenter in 2012 when I talked about how we had published a book in our digital citizenship class using Moodle and Lulu. The … Read more
This week’s passing of Colin Powell invited me to reflect on the impact of him as an American icon. I strongly disagreed with the decision of the Bush administration to go to war in Iraq and I was sorry that General Powell gave testimony in the United Nations that provided the cover for that war. … Read more
“War is not the answer,” is a bumper sticker I’ve frequently posted on my car. It’s from the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Never was that slogan nor the bumper sticker more appropriate than now. In the middle of our frantic withdrawal from Afghanistan we were horrified to learn that another terrorist attack had claimed … Read more
More broadly, it is far past time for the United States to acknowledge that peace and real security can never be achieved through military force, and to therefore abandon the failed endless war paradigm completely. — Read on www.fcnl.org/updates/2021-08/holding-afghanistan-light The horrific attacks at Kabul Airport must not be used as a pretext for more war. … Read more
Afghanistan was an unwinnable war as was Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and more. It was a misadventure that was supposedly our answer the terrorist attacks of 9/11 which happened twenty years ago next month. As horrific as those attacks were invading Afghanistan and later Iraq did nothing to end international terrorism. Unfortunately it’s made it worse. … Read more
Afghanistan is one more instance of failed United States foreign policies which highlight the use and abuse of military force to achieve or fail to achieve political objectives. We invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Over 3000 Americans died that day. Since that day we invaded the country … Read more
