The Carnage of War on a Paper Route
I never served in Vietnam, but I saw the carnage of that war firsthand on my paper route. It was not on the pages of the paper, where most of my generation saw it, but in the wards of the Yokosuka Naval Hospital in Yokosuka Japan where the Navy and Marine wounded from that war, […]
A True ‘Power Couple’…Sargent and Eunice Shriver
I was bored to tears surfing the channels and I stumbled upon the wake and memorial service for Sargent Shriver, who died this past Tuesday at the age of 95. Sargent Shriver was the first director of the Peace Corps, running mate to George McGovern in 1972, husband to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and so forth. […]
The Passing of American Hero: Richard Winters
I have no idea how this got past me but we were sitting around the dinner table the other night and my son Sam mentioned that Dick Winters had died. Richard Winters was a true American hero made famous as the leader of a group of soldiers in World War II and made famous by […]
IMO: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Many people my age can remember right where they were when they heard that MLK had been shot. I was at the newspaper delivery office of the Stars and Stripes in Yokosuka, Japan getting my papers to sell in the various areas of the Naval Hospital. I think I gasped some expletive in disbelief. I […]
Just one of my favorite Red McEwen stories…
Ten years ago today we lost a great guy, my father in law, Red McEwen. At the time it was really a kick in the head. We had just lost my nephew and father in previous months, so we were pretty numb at that point. The Story: So, Kathleen and I are dating and sitting […]
A Trip to Clinton for Family Geneaology
On this day back in 1924, my namesake, and grandfather, married Agnes Gibbons, a girl from Clinton, MA . We decided to take a trip Clinton to see if we could find my great grandparents gravesite and visit the church. The document below is the current version of the Morel and Gibbons family tree and […]
A REAL Thanksgiving
It’s amazing to me how many people have had near death experiences. It’s a wonder many of us are even here at all, and that gives me pause to reflect on a real Thanksgiving. Last year, over the Thanksgiving weekend, we took a trip over the Kathleen’s relations in Arlington to visit and capture some […]
Gettysburg Address Revisited
I saw this amazing video of the Gettysburg Address and on this anniversary of its delivery on November 19 many years ago, here it is. Also here’s the link to a previous blog post, and our trip to the Gettysburg Memorial: Thoughts on Sacrifice and Humility. Here’s the text of Lincoln’s Speech: Four score and […]
A Song for Veterans
I remember the first time I heard this song. Uh, sort of. I remember that I was in the Sanders Theater at Harvard and it was performed by John Gorka. Exactly WHEN that was is a mystery. But I was certainly struck right between the eyes by this song and it is still on my […]
Who IS your Daddy?
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a local event where of our town’s youth sports teams had a table. Earlier that day, I had heard that John Wooden had died, so I asked: “Sad news about John Wooden, isn’t it?” Huh? Neither of them had even heard of Coach, and they were leaders […]