Today is the anniversary of V-E Day. That’s “Victory in Europe Day,” the day the Allies accepted Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War II. Gary’s Dad, Andrew, celebrated in Austria. A soldier there with the U.S. Army, he had to wait his turn to make it back home. There was a “point system” and as a single fellow he had fewer points than those returning to wives and children. Andrew was a long way from home, but he’d survived…
Newly retired, I’ve mentioned to Gary over the past seven months how much I look forward to getting snowed in this winter, surrounded by books. With memoirs by Eva Kor, Graham Norton, and a few less familiar names topping the stack, I was ready for whatever Mother Nature might fling at us. The books surround us, but there’s nary a flake in sight. Although we haven’t needed to pile up the blankets just yet, it is a wonderful situation to…
Children – even adult children – often don’t start asking questions until it’s too late. Important questions about the stories their parents and grandparents carry with them, but don’t necessary bring up at the dinner table. I’m so grateful to have a giant (acid-free) folder of photos from my dad’s time in Japan and Korea. With long conversations over the phone, often punctuated by texting photos to his iPad to jog specific memories, Dad and I were able to piece…
I never met him, but David Leet meant a lot to me over the years. Captain David L. Leet. From Kenosha, Wisconsin. A Marine. He served in Vietnam. The fall of 1973, I was a sophomore at Andrew Warde High School in Fairfield, Connecticut. Typical teen, life was: 1) All about me, and 2) Totally miserable. Dad had been offered a new position with General Electric and our family was preparing to move to Indiana. It was September and America’s…
Remember the panic about the H1N1 flu a decade ago? There was good reason for that. The first time H1N1 struck was back in 1918. In the U.S., it was originally detected among military personnel, in the spring of that year. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates one-third of the world’s population was infected (about 500 million) by what was then called the Spanish Flu. There were at least 50 million deaths. The death toll included Private John Henry…
Even though local schools head back obnoxiously early around here, September still feels like the true back-to-school month. It’s still not cozy-up-and-read weather, but surely we’re getting closer! Here’s a look at the four books I read this month. Week 1: Children of Nazis by Tania Crasniaski An uncomfortable read, yet fascinating. The author devotes a chapter to the children of each of eight high-ranking Nazis. Some referred to Hitler as Uncle Adolf and others were even named for him….
Terre Haute, Indiana, is one of the last places on Earth you’d expect to find a Mengele Twin. The heinous Angel of Death nearly killed Eva Mozes back in Auschwitz when she was just 10 years old. But she and her identical twin sister, Miriam, not only lived to tell about it, they thrived for decades. Eva even came to forgive her tormentors. Eva married fellow Holocaust survivor Michael Kor and settled with him in Terre Haute, where they raised…