Reflections and Observations

grain_elevator

Knowing When to Get Off

I love the feeling of shredded wheat. I love healthy bird food with a fun-to-eat...
Sky Vu Drive In Theatre

Sky Vu In My Rearview Mirror

"Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our...
Dave Berry outside the old Tyler Paper Newsroom on the day of his retirement.

Passages and Transitions

Life is one big transition." - Willie Stargell By DAVE BERRY The alley between the...
2021-12-12 12.38.45

My Road Less Traveled

"...I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere in ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged...
122914_Dave_2web

Counting Votes and Baking Bread

“All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an...
The crew of B-29 Superfortress 42-24598 "Waddy's Wagon", 20th Air Force, 73rd Bomb Wing, 497th Bomb Group, 869th Bomb Squadron, the fifth B-29 to take off on the first Tokyo mission from Saipan on November 24, 1944, and first to land back at Isley Field after bombing the target. Crew members, posing here to duplicate their caricatures on the plane, are : Plane Commander, Captain Walter R. "Waddy" Young, Ponca City, Oklahoma, former All-American end; Lieutenant Jack H. Vetters, Corpus Christi, Texas, pilot; Lieutenant John F. Ellis, Moberly, Missouri, bombardier; Lieutenant Paul R. Garrison, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, navigator; Sergeant George E. Avon, Syracuse, New York, radio operator; Lieutenant Bernard S. Black, Woodhaven, New York, Flight Engineer; Sergeant Kenneth M. Mansie of Randolph, Maine, Flight Technician; and gunners - Sargeants Lawrence L. Lee of Max, North Dakota; Wilbur J. Chapman of Panhandle, Texas; Corbett L. Carnegie, Grindstone Island, New York; and Joseph J. Gatto, Falconer, New York. All were killed when "Waddy's Wagon" was shot down attempting to guide a crippled B-29 back to safety during a mission against the Nakajima aircraft factory in Musashino, Japan on January 9, 1945.

Campfire Stories

“The thing I took away as an early fan from Bob Dylan was the storytelling...
Half Dome from Half-Inspired Point, Yosemite National Park, November 2013.

Patience and Persistence

“Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re...
Gordon Barker enjoyed the welcome given him by this group of Cincinnatti students at the World War II Memorial in 2014.

Stories from the Heroes Flight

"I saw a projectile go right between our stacks. Our sister ship got it amidships…...
Windmill in the sunset, Rockwall

Days of Heat; Nights of Wonder

“I inherited that calm from my father, who was a farmer. You sow, you wait...
Jim Calanan in the Navy Museum searching for the Batfish, a World War II submarine.

In Search of the Batfish

“I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked...
Blue Boat at Low Tide in the Rain - Ireland 2011

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Friday, Dec. 30, 1870: “Stormy with wind from southwest… carried away our fore top mast...
I've Got Your Back - The Three Servicemen Statue at The Wall.

Making Peace with Vietnam

(First presented in 2015 at the "Vietnam 40 Years Later Commemoration" at the American Freedom...

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives