Category: military
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Cautiously Optimistic About Iran and United States Relations
I’m cautiously optimistic about Iranian and United States relations in the wake of the July 14th announcement by President Obama of the Iranian Nuclear deal and his hour long press conference yesterday focusing primarily on that accord. We live in the day of 140 character information bites, but I encourage you to fully watch both these…
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Podcast426: Civil War History at Harpers Ferry
This podcast features an audio recording of a presentation by U.S. Park Ranger Creighton Waters on July 1, 2015, at the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Creighton mainly tells the story of the brief capture of Harpers Ferry in 1862 by Confederate forces led by General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson. 12,419 Federal troops surrendered to Jackson, which made this…
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Inspired by the First All-Female USAF Boeing E-3 Sentry Air Crew
(cross-posted from Learning Signs, our family learning blog) Rachel and Sarah had a wonderful opportunity yesterday to visit Tinker Air Force Base by Oklahoma City and tour a Boeing E-3 Sentry (AWACS) aircraft with the first all-female crew in the history of the US Air Force. The girls spent about ten minutes in the cockpit…
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Gangnam Style Videos: USNA vs USAFA vs Westpoint
I’m a bit embarrased to admit a recent lack of YouTube cultural literacy: I didn’t follow or know about the “Gangnam Style” song and video sensation until a few weeks ago. I remember hearing the song in early October when our family went to “FrightFest” at Frontier City (our local amusement park in Oklahoma City)…
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Kansas Honor Flight: October 2012 (Narrated Slideshow)
Last week my father had an opportunity to serve as a ‘guardian’ on a Kansas Honor Flight to Washington D.C. Approximately 25 World War II veterans flew from Kansas City and 25 from Wichita, Kansas, to our nation’s capitol to visit the National World War II Memorial as well as other historic sites. This past…
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Additional Books to Read on the POW/MIA Situation in Southeast Asia
The connections made possible via Internet-based publishing and communication can be both enlightening and challenging. When I was a cadet at the US Air Force Academy in the late 1980s / early 1990s, I wrote a paper about U.S. Prisoners of War (POWs) who were left behind in Southeast Asia following the formal end of…
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7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, Bushwhackers, and Jayhawkers (Kansas in 1861 – 1865)
This is a 10 minute video interview recorded on January 14, 2012, at the Trapper’s Rendezvous campout west of Newton, Kansas. This historian shares some history about Kansas in the U.S. Civil War. He provided background about the 7th Regiment Kansas Volunteer Cavalry, the Bushwhackers, Jayhawkers, Quantrill’s Raiders and the scorched earth tactics which eventually…
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Why Veteran’s Day is November 11th
Today is Veteran’s Day in the United States. To all our veterans, active duty members of the military, and family members of veterans around the world I say THANK YOU. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your honor and integrity. Thank you for your patriotism and your sacrifices for our nation. We are…
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Sunset over Doha [video]
Local time in Doha, Qatar, is eight hours ahead of U.S. central time. This evening before heading out for our evening dinner, I recorded a 4.5 minute reflection about some of my experiences and thoughts after being in the Middle East about 24 hours. One correction to my video: Our conference is sponsored by Qatar…
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Oren Lee Peters – Stories of My Life
On April 16, 1921, Oren Lee Peters was born in Edmond, Oklahoma. He served as a soldier in the US Army and the Oklahoma National Guard in both World War II and Korea. After returning from World War II, he finished his senior year of high school but also served as the coach of his…