Archive for June 2025
Flash in the Pan
“Flash in the pan [orig. of ineffectual flash of powder in a pan of a flintlock] a person, effort, etc. that is successful or famous for only a short time.” – Webster’s New World Dictionary By DAVE BERRY His name was Walter Wallace Gilonske. He told Grandma Berry she could call him “Flash.” He was…
Read MoreForged By War: Memorials To Veterans Refuse To Let Us Forget
By DAVE BERRY WASHINGTON, DC – The faces of our nation’s veterans – forever memorialized in bronze, stone or mortar – are ageless and innocent, any mother’s son, any father’s daughter. Their silent vigils eternal, their stories told in stone and steel, they guard the entries to our nation’s capital and patrol the shadows of…
Read MoreWorld War II Heroes Venture to D.C.
By DAVE BERRY From the start it was evident this would be no ordinary adventure. The cheers and accolades of East Texans gathered at 5 a.m. to launch the 37 World War II veterans on their journey were barely audible inside the bus, and interior lights made it difficult to see the lines of well-wishers…
Read MoreA Warrior Poet; An Unmarked Grave
“Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.” – Maj. Michael Davis O’Donnell By DAVE BERRY Somehow, I…
Read MoreThe Empty Grave in Mrs. Lee’s Garden
“Every one of these cots has its history … every case is a tragic poem, an epic, a romance, a pensive and absorbing book, if it were only written.” – Walt Whitman By DAVE BERRY There’s an empty grave at the edge of Mrs. Lee’s rose garden. No monument marks the spot. The original occupant…
Read MoreSaigon, Sweat and Spades
“Cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane. Don’t know when I’ll be back again. Oh babe, I hate to go.”– John Denver By DAVE BERRY I hated to play Spades. But three guys can’t play cards, and they needed a fourth. They were Army just like me, motion picture guys assigned to document the transition…
Read MoreMilk Run on the Nine-O-Nine
A “good” landing is one you can walk away from. A “great” landing is one after which they can use the plane again. – Old Pilot Sayings By DAVE BERRY It wasn’t even what Air Corps veterans would have called a milk run; more like ferrying planes from one base to another. But for me…
Read MoreSilence in the Gardens of Stone
By DAVE BERRY A quiet pervades the cemetery. Not “so quiet you can hear a pin drop,” just comfortable, reverent silence. Traffic noises intrude on the hush, but far away, muted, a world apart from Arlington National Cemetery’s gardens of stone. Row upon row of crosses and markers cascade over the sloping hills, their symmetry…
Read MoreFewer Half-Read Books
“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them.”– Mark Twain By DAVE BERRY For much of my recent life, books taunted me. Don’t get me wrong. I love books. I love reading them, exploring new worlds and learning new things through their pages. I love…
Read MoreUnheralded Sacrifice – A Forgotten Hero
“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”– Dwight D. Eisenhower By DAVE BERRY John and Bertie Griffin of Troup sent two sons to war. Only one would return. A farm family from Cherokee County’s Blackjack community, they had moved…
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