The end of the film

I was in the Navy in Japan relaying messages to ships off the coast of Vietnam from December 1972 through November 1974, just as America was desperately trying to get out of that war. Watching the final episode of Burns & Novick’s film tonight surely didn’t make me feel very good about the promises we …

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The Vietnam War on PBS

If you haven’t been watching this, you should be. It’s wonderfully good and it’s not pulling any punches about American misconceptions while at the same time explaining the politicians’ and the generals’ thinking. If you’re my age you recognize a lot of the music playing in the background or during interludes. The film and cinematography …

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Here’s an idea

In all the discussion about removing statues of Confederate generals, politicians and soldiers the question comes up: “It’s history. You can’t just eliminate it.” I don’t disagree, but we don’t have to leave the statues in places of honor in our cities like Monument Avenue in Richmond. Why can’t we remove them and put them …

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A song for the unmasked alt-right

I suspect the Chad Mitchell Trio would be stunned to know this song of theirs would be newly applicable in 2017 in the United States of America. This one’s for all those whiners who showed up unhooded and unmasked in Charlottesville this weekend only to discover their employers and college classmates didn’t share their enthusiasm …

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D-Day memories

General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower walks the ranks of the American Cemetery at Normandy and talks with CBS newsman Walter Cronkite in 1964. It is still astonishing that the feint toward Calais worked so well to deceive the Germans, leaving Normandy relatively lightly defended.

Echoes of 2001-2003

Reading this section of Trump’s speech to the heads of Arab countries the other day takes me back to the period immediately following the 9/11 attacks. But no discussion of stamping out this threat would be complete without mentioning the government that gives terrorists all three—safe harbor, financial backing, and the social standing needed for …

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Anniversaries

This is poignant, don’t you agree? Each year, the @FDNY sends a truck to the site of the #TriangleFire, to raise a ladder to the 6th floor. That's as high as it went in 1911. pic.twitter.com/wrbJi9YRAk — NYC CLC (@CentralLaborNYC) March 24, 2017 Here’s the Wikipedia version of the tragedy. 146 garment workers died — …

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Saving our best places

Among the many things I have admired about President Obama is his concern for America’s historical places and his willingness to protect them. By invoking the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate the sites, Obama has now used the act more than any other president. He has created or expanded 34 national monuments, two more …

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