THE next morning the word was out. The port visit to Australia was cancelled. Some damned fool in the National Command Authority took it in his head that the deteriorating situation in the Gulf of Aden required our presence more than the fair ladies of Perth. It was an obvious case of misplaced international priorities. […]

A shipmate wrote to me about the Mombasa tale. He had joined the Foreign Legion after our last outing to the Indian Ocean, and the grand adventure of liberty in Africa with no immediate crisis in progress. He had not visited Kenya before, and he was determined to enjoy it, Hostage Crisis or not. He […]

(The Carnival Cruise Ship Magic, denied access to Belize. They say a cruise is a great way to get your mind off a crisis.) You know why I have been plunging into the past. It is easy. There is no uncertainty back there, nothing to be afraid of. Plus, I know we all lived through […]

“Vic . . . I remember that night well. I was in the aft wardroom for a mid-rats slider. Don’t remember if I had been waving the last recovery. Perhaps. While sitting there we noticed that peculiar vibration from the out-of-balance screw/shaft that showed up when there were a lot of turns on. Hmmm . […]

IN THE GULF OF OMAN Reader’s Note: Second Case of Ebola among the health workers who treated Mr. Duncan. I choose to escape into the past for a few days. – Vic NOV 79- FEB 80 04 November 1979 I was going to go to chow an eon ago. It was another of the series […]

I was at Willow yesterday at Happy Hour time- big surprise- but I have an excuse. There was actual business to accomplish. Old Jim and I have entered into an agreement in which he will review the 1100 pages of the manuscript I printed out a couple months ago that comprise the articles that make […]

(The whole campaign, Fredericksburg to Gettysburg. Lee spent the winter of 1863 in Culpeper, to the lower left, with J.E.B. Stuart occupying Fleetwood Hill at Brandy Station to screen the main force of the Army of Northern Virginia from the predations of Union cavalry). I made it through the weekend- it was an aggressive one- […]

(AT-6 Texan WWII trainers. 24 of them are launching for Washington with a real B-25 Mitchell medium bomber- the Panchito, out of Delaware- to fly in formation by the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery in honor of America’s disabled veterans. The flight was supposed to happen last Friday but washed out that day and Saturday). […]

I don’t want to beat this all to death, but I am always on the look-out for old cast iron pots and pans. You can often find them at places like the Minuteman Antiques Mall on Rt 3 just east of Culpeper. They have hundreds of stalls filled with country stuff- it is where I […]

(The five quart Lode Dutch oven. The top has no handle, so the top can be used as a skillet. This makes the DO the go-to cookware if you are on the run from Homeland Security). This is all Ann’s fault. She is a mid-western gal, a Buckeye, for goodness sake, and when she is […]