This gallery contains 6 photos.
It’s astonishing how much can happen in a split second. Scientists tell us the entire universe big-banged into existence in just one-trillionth of a second. Some bridge-jumpers relate seeing reruns of their entire lives as they plummeted to what they thought was a watery grave. My … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
The year was 1960. The “Pill” … aka the birth control pill … had just hit the market. The sexual revolution had begun! At the time Mr. Simpson, my Spanish teacher at Vallejo Senior High School and a personal mentor, asked, “How do you think ‘the pill’ … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
In the non–volunteer army of the 1960s, the term “lifer” (those who chose to serve for twenty years or more) had unsavory connotations, like crazed or weird or misanthrope … it sounded more like a prison sentence than it did a career. But, when you got to know them, army lifers really weren’t all that … Continue reading
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Too much rum can lead to trouble … big trouble! I learned that simple fact when, after returning to the barracks late one day, and in a hurry to “catch up” with my buddies, I finished four-fifths of a fifth of Bacardi in about an hour … big … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
After gulping down our “Meal, Combat, Individual” (MCI) cans of turkey (frozen to an icy slush like our sodas … we were too busy and hungry to bother with thawing them out) we turned our attention to our antenna. Erecting this was no … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Young and dumb. It’s that phase when we’ve got everything figured out. When we discover we don’t need adult supervision because we’re adults. Broadly speaking it’s that time of our lives that runs from the late teens to the mid-twenties, after … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
The mailbox sat atop a post half-buried by a couple of feet of snow. The military map indicated the road going up the mountain began next to that mailbox. However, because new fallen snow had covered everything with a shimmering sliver-flecked sheet of white, and because I … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
We Koblenz warriors fighting The Cold War were ready and willing to give our “last full measure of devotion” in the defense of West Germany … which, if you thought about it for too long, you’d find yourself hitting an iron curtain of irony. You see, our small part in the Cold … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Why is it giggle fits come at the worst possible time? And why is it when you try to stop them you end-up sputtering and choking like a car running out of gas? You feel like your head’s going to explode. Tears flood your eyes. Something makes you … Continue reading
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Elbows come-in handy in Germany, particularly when shopping. I discovered this on my first visit to a corner grocery in preparation for my maiden, all-night duty shift. I stood with a small sack of cookies and a large Coke patiently waiting for a kindly looking old lady to complete her purchase. When … Continue reading
