I know where most of the inspirations for the details of this story come from. Here they are, with my thoughts on what I would do if I were to revise the story. Sorry if I explain some things that are obvious, but not everyone has the same background.
Continue readingMy folks asked me to get my stuff out of their storage. Included was my old West Point uniforms…and something special.
Continue readingMr Ed Cabral was My Math Teacher from 1987-9. David Grant, a classmate and friend, wrote these comics about him, and our friends in our class.
Mr Cabral recently passed away. I post these in his memory. All work is Copyright David Grant, 1988 (or maybe 89)
Continue readingI’m a nerdy male of Jewish, Eastern European Descent. I was born in 1971. My parents listened to John Denver, Simon and Garfunkle, Billy Joel, Mac Davis, Anne Murray and Carly Simon. My Uncle Ben started me on Saxophone in second grade.
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Sufficient quantities to afflict everyone.
Which takes more courage: to lead a 11 person team deep into enemy territory, or to stand up to your own dysfunctional organization to try and fix it? I know someone that has done both.
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Ring of a Selmer Paris Saxophone
Dropped my Sax off at Emilio Lyon’s house and workshop. My folks bought it for me from him at Rayburn Music in Boston back when I was a High School Freshman. I still remember him pointing to the sticker on it that indicated “This is my work.”
As someone who loves both the saxophone and working with my hands, I have to admit I was looking forward to meeting him. I was even a little nervous. He has a great reputation. Was he going to chastise me for the state of my horn? It hadn’t been serviced in…way too long. I was a little worried that the lack of changing the oil on the rods would have worn down some of the metal connections.
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Until a few decades ago, attendance at chapel was mandatory for all cadets at West Point. The Jewish cadets and officers used to meet in chapels for other denominations, or other buildings around the post. The Jewish Chapel was completed in the early 1980s, after chapel was no longer mandatory, but still highly encouraged. It provided a sanctuary unrivalled at West Point. The food alone was sufficient to encourage participation from beyond “The Tribe.”
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I was working at a local coffee shop when I noticed an old man walk in. His hat had a Yin Yang on it. It struck a memory and I Googled for a list of US Army division patches. Easy access to modern technology told me more than I expected. The 29th Infantry Division, the Blue and the Gray, landed at Bloody Omaha on June 6th, 1944.
Continue readingMenotomy Menotomy They’re Marching Through Menotomy
The Village ‘tween the stream and rocky hill.
Before this day we may have called ourselves good English men
but afterwards we wonder if we will
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