The sweet but sad bugle call known as Taps employs only four separate notes and there are only 24 notes in the entire composition – but its plaintive strains continue to tug at heartstrings after 122 years. Taps is sounded at patriotic Veterans and Memorial Day services and at flag-lowering and “lights out” ceremonies in… Continue reading Origin of Sweet, Sad Taps Sound
Category: War
Honoring Their Sacrifice. Stones Present a History
By N. LA VERL CHRISTENSEN Until the storied “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” in 1918, the battle lines in France shook with the roar of cannons. But at that hour the guns ceased firing. A general armistice between the Allies and Germany went into effect. Terms of the peace had… Continue reading Honoring Their Sacrifice. Stones Present a History
Divided Berlin: Lesson in Freedom
Where could you find a more striking contrast of the fruits of freedom versus repression than on the two sides of the infamous Berlin Wall? Gail S. Halvorsen has some special insights on why so many East Berliners “have left behind everything but the clothes on their backs and then given their lives in an… Continue reading Divided Berlin: Lesson in Freedom
Candy Smiles
During the crucial Berlin Airlift 3 1/2 decades ago, rays of gladness were spread by human interest stories of an American “candy bomber” who dropped sweets to destitute German children. If you are old enough to remember the historic airlift (called Operation Vittles) – the Allies’ answer to the infamous Berlin Blockade by the Soviets… Continue reading Candy Smiles
Provo Bids ‘Goodbye’ to Tom
Provo said goodbye this week to one of its highly respected war heroes. Thomas S. Bullock, prisoner of the Japanese for 3 1/2 years after the fall of Corregidor in World War II. As the sweet strains of “Taps” added a final plaintive touch to graveside services at the Provo Cemetery, many must have reflected… Continue reading Provo Bids ‘Goodbye’ to Tom
Remembering Heroes of D-Day
Let’s take a few minutes this week to reflect on D-Day. It was just 40 years ago on Wednesday – June 6, 1944 – that the great Allied invasion of the French Normandy coast took place, a vital step toward ending World War II the next year. This “greatest amphibious assault of all time” pierced… Continue reading Remembering Heroes of D-Day
Remembering Henry’s Oratory
It was March 23, 1775 – 209 years ago this week – that Patrick Henry, one of oratory’s all-time heavy hitters, gave the blazing speech that made his name immortal. There was tension in the air as great men of Virginia gathered in the little St. John’s Church at Richmond for the colony’s second revolutionary convention.… Continue reading Remembering Henry’s Oratory
Paris Treaty Bicentennial Noted
It was a bicentennial that sparked little or no fanfare, but one certainly worthy of remembrance. We’re alluding to the 200th anniversary of the Jan. 14, 1784. ratification by Congress of the “final Treaty of Paris” which officially ended the Revolutionary War. Actually congressional endorsement was more or less a formality. But it had its place… Continue reading Paris Treaty Bicentennial Noted
‘Tiny’ American Flags ‘Giant’ Support For POWs
By N. LA VERL CHRISTENSEN Scripps League Newspapers In their dark days as prisoners of war in Vietnam, four American Air Force and Navy officers – cellmates at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” POW camp – decided to conduct a Sunday church service in the hope this would boost morale. Navy Pilot Mike McGrath of Delta,… Continue reading ‘Tiny’ American Flags ‘Giant’ Support For POWs
Book Recalls Earhart Tragedy
Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated round-the-world flight attempt in 1937 and the long, fruitless search for her and her navigator has one of the most extensively-covered news stories of that era. Tragic and still a mystery to a considerable extent, that episode and Earhart’s many successful exploits will be remembered this week, 50th anniversary of the solo trans-Atlantic flight of… Continue reading Book Recalls Earhart Tragedy