Just when you thought it could not get stranger… Copyright 2017 Vic Socotra www.vicsocotra.com
So, the morning messages included an insightful essay from an old shipmate that analyzed the decision that Great Caesar made about crossing the Rubicon River, heading south and ending the Republic of Rome. It had lasted a half a thousand years, so it was a significant one. He decided to trade the Republic for an […]
It was epic, even if the events of the day swept over me and meant I never left the property at Big Pink. It was worth it. Epic. Among he other things that happened while I wasn’t looking in the course of the day, I think I won the Front Page bar pool on the […]
So, my best friend called this morning to start it all, and it went well, or at least as well as it could have been since I had hoped to be in the Friendly Islands and avoid the whole thing. Oh well, didn’t work out that way. But the cancelled trip gave me some un-programmed […]
Editor’s Note: It was an interesting day. I think I will go for a swim. – Vic Author’s Note: During a morning when I couldn’t decide between Comey-tose and Comey-geddon, I penned this. Marlow My Give a Damn’s Busted Well they filled up my head With so many lies Then twisted my heart ‘Til something […]
Well, long suffering readers, this is the second edition of the Postcard series from the placid bogs that line the majestic Potomac. The big brown river flows at its own pace between the District and Arlington County. Not so the affairs of humans here. We are already in a steamy heat from the swirl of […]
Once again: 7 dead, 50 injured as I write this, though those numbers will change. Around the world, Islamic terrorists have conducted a series of terrorist attacks that have left at least 149 dead in the first week of Ramadan – the Islamic month of fasting. As President Sisi of Egypt pointed out, the long-term […]
The battle of Midway culminated today, 75 years ago. Though badly stricken with severe battle damage, USS Yorktown refused to die. When the Americans found their carrier still afloat on the morning of 5 June, they hoped to tow her back to Pearl Harbor for repairs. The tug Vireo took Yorktown under tow. Despite efforts […]
Editor’s Note: this essay from Paul Becker sums up some of the lessons that we have already paid for in blood and treasure, and which we need to re-learn. Our thanks to the Navy’s History and Heritage Command, ably led by RADM Sam Cox, for publishing this in The Sextant. http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/ 75 years ago today […]
Editor’s note: I wish I had been there to see the ceremony honoring the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. It was held in front of what had been the 14th Naval District on Pearl, and home of The Dungeon, where our pal Mac worked with the legends of naval intelligence. But I wasn’t, […]