The Post Library is Open!

Over the past few years I have become a reader.  Let me explain.  When I was in junior high and high school way back in the last century I didn’t like to read very much.  It was a chore to read social studies assignments and long, boring Charles Dickens stories (like Great Expectations).  But over the years I’ve discovered that I really like to read about a couple of categories.  One type is 20^th century history, maybe because I grew up (some say I never grew up!) in the latter half of the last century.  Another type is any book about airplanes.  And I love dog stories, I guess because I love dogs.

I’ve recently read 3 books that fit these criteria that I thought you’d find interesting and enjoy.

The first one is Judy by Damien Lewis.  I’m quoting from the summary I found on Amazon.com:

British bestselling author Damien Lewis is an award-winning journalist who has spent twenty years reporting from war, disaster, and conflict zones. Now Lewis brings his first-rate narrative skills to bear on the inspiriting tale of Judy--an English pointer who perhaps was the only canine prisoner of war.

After being bombed and shipwrecked repeatedly while serving for several wild and war-torn years as a mascot of the World War II Royal Navy Yangtze river gunboats the Gnat and the Grasshopper, Judy ended up in Japanese prisoner of war camps in North Sumatra. Along with locals as slave labor, the American, Australian, and British POWs were forced to build a 1,200-mile single-track railroad through the most horrifying jungles and treacherous mountain passes. Like the one immortalized in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, this was the other death-railroad building project where POWs slaved under subhuman conditions.

This is a quick read and has those 2 elements that I like in a book, 20^th century history and a great dog story.

Another great read is about a movie star who became a genuine war hero during World War II.  Jimmy Stewart was drafted at the start of the war (as a private E-1 and eventually retired at the rank of Brigadier General in the Air Force reserve.  Again, from Amazon’s description:

Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot chronicles his long journey to become a bomber pilot in combat. Author Starr Smith, the intelligence officer assigned to the movie star, recounts how Stewart's first battles were with the Air Corps high command, who insisted on keeping the naturally talented pilot out of harm's way as an instructor pilot for B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators. By 1944, however, Stewart managed to get assigned to a Liberator squadron that was deploying to England to join the mighty Eighth Air Force. Once in the thick of it, he rose to command his own squadron and flew twenty combat missions, including one to Berlin.

“My father would feel honored by this book.” —Kelly Stewart Harcourt, daughter of Jimmy Stewart.

The third book is The Dog Who Could Fly by Damien Lewis.  This is the unlikely story of a German Shepherd who was found in France and ended up being a part of the RAF in WWII.  From Amazon.com’s description:

“A thoroughly enjoyable story of heroism and true friendship” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), this Sunday Times top ten bestseller is the true account of a German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying countless combat missions and surviving everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts—ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend.

I hope you take time to sit down, maybe with a dog or two on you lap as very often happens to me, read about stories about true war heroes (canine and human), stories that generally have happy endings!  You won’t be disappointed!

A Christmas Memory

I have been thinking of what I should share this year.  Some memories came to mind about my first Christmas in Vietnam in 1968.  Of course I missed being home and all those things associated with being there.  But also that year, in late October, one of my favorite uncles died in Portland, Oregon, and reason I remember especially missing him that Christmas.   He was a captain and dentist in the Army during World War II.  Sometime in the late 1960’s he was diagnosed with cancer (I think it was lung cancer because he was a smoker) and he succumbed to it in October 1968.  Russ was an outdoor man, a bird hunter and fisherman with a big pickup and a boat; he was just fun to be with.  Well, I missed him that Christmas (and I still do).  He and his wife are buried at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland.

As we celebrate with our families and friends, please remember to pray for and think about our many service men and women who are away from their families and friends this year, doing the job we did so many years ago.

Have a wonderful holiday this year!

(PS: This photo, of which I took the original over Vietnam sometime in late 1969, was modified by my son Tim especially for the holidays.)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

With the delightful aromas of roast turkey and pumpkin pie wafting from the kitchen and, in some places around our great nation, the first or second blast of winter air and snow arriving, it must be the Thanksgiving and holiday season once again.

I remember the first Thanksgiving I spent in Phu Hiep (this was a first holiday I was not at home) I was impressed by the little things that actually caught me by surprise.  The Army had printed menus of our Thanksgiving dinner that were placed in our Mess Hall.  A nice touch, I thought.  That didn’t completely take away the sting of not being with family, but as the years have gone by (can you believe it’s been nearly half a century?) I realize now that I really was with family, even though we were all dressed in green!

Our friend George Drago sent me a short clip of another trooper who was in our war, and many others, as he brought some light to our sometimes very dark circumstances.  Please click on this link and enjoy some of Bob Hope’s wonderful times with our brothers and sisters over the years.

And HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!