(# 279 Edward John Kerling) The Coast Guard had already found the boxes of munitions and uniforms on the Long Island sand. The FBI had been alerted; a nation-wide man-hunt under the tightest security had been launched when U-584, a type VIIc submarine, surfaced off the empty beaches of Ponte Vendre, south of the sleepy […]

The Long Island Boys (George John Dasch, 1942, no number)   It is positively chill this morning. It makes me long already for the summer that is still with us.   I’m sure the French have a word for it- missing something that is still around, but I have been feeling like this for quite […]

(U-202 on the Surface, 1942)   The German School of Sabotage was called Quentz Farm, was under the direct control of the German Military Intelligence Service. It is about sixty kilometers from Berlin, close to Brandenburg, having been set up by German Military Intelligence, headed up by wily Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, the kind of naval […]

(USCG Seaman 2/c John “Punchy” Cullen, 1942) It is cool outside, for the last day of August, and if you had not noticed, it’s Monday. I feel a little punchy. Not enough sleep, I fear.   It was a nice enough weekend, but the Blackberry kept buzzing right through and there was never a moment […]

(The Two-Faced Roman God)   I am going to briefly touch on an important part of the story of the missing Nazis this morning. I have a proposal to write, and a trip down to see Heckle and Jeckel, the feral Kat Kings of Culpeper County.   If I had the time, I would explain […]

(Radio Intercept Operator)   You cannot go far wrong in the study of history if you attribute the reasons things happen to money and sex. That is the joy and curse of the human condition; then, it is a simple matter of overlying the unique but common templates of individual tribes (or amalgams of tribes […]

(J. Edgar Hoover as Self Caricature)   Well, all right. I told you we were going to spin a tale this cycle, and it is going to be a wild one.   The bulldozers attacking what is left of the row of Buckingham garden apartments are making noise like thunder this morning. One part of […]

(Alexander Robey Shepherd (1835 – 1902), better known as Boss Shepherd)   We were embarked on the Odyssey, a sleek gas-topped pleasure boat that provided magnificent views of the Imperial City as we plied a carefully orchestrated route south on the Potomac, north again with a turn just north of Blue Plains, and then to […]

(The Lion on one of his Good Days)   The subject of the moment- the culmination of a life- is what smacked me as I padded around the kitchen. The door to the balcony was opened immediately, and with the first gray light, he heavy equipment is knocking down the main structure of the Buckingham […]

(Service Employees International Union Shirt from the Web Store)   It was a busy Monday, back again from the road and with way too much to think about.   On the crowded plane coming back from Chicago was a man who had made me think. He was of a certain age, looked like he was […]