Category: Veterans

Short Takes – The Last Veteran

NEW VIDEO!  Take a Short Takes break with me and learn the history of one of the most valuable and rare artifacts from all of World War II—the only known surviving aircraft, Japanese or American, that fought in the 1942 Battle of Midway! https://youtu.be/q8exf6ySKjs #nathanaelmiller, #sparks1524, #shorttakes, #navalaviationmuseum, #WorldWarII, #Navy, #USMC, #MarineCorps, #warplane, #warbird, #Dauntless, … Continue reading Short Takes – The Last Veteran

On the Waterfront – A-Fording an Island

(Pensacola, Florida; Feb. 26, 2023) – Very few jobs involve hanging out underneath a 555 metric ton (nearly 612 regular ton) steel superstructure swinging over one's head, but the Navy is not just a job, it's an adventure! This adventure played out on a cold, snowy day in Newport News, Virginia, as the final piece … Continue reading On the Waterfront – A-Fording an Island

Veteran Talk – The Trauma Olympics

(Pensacola, Florida; Jan. 25, 2023) – The Trauma Olympics don't actually exists, but there are many people, both veterans and civilians, who still try to root for them! I've never tried to hide my frustration, indeed, my outrage and indignation, that I've been sidelined and marginalized by many veterans organizations and other trauma support groups … Continue reading Veteran Talk – The Trauma Olympics

Veteran Talk – Mach Two Max Has Gone Ashore

(Pensacola, Florida; May 13, 2022) – Mach Two Max passed away last month at the age of 78, and, while the world is not a ‘smaller’ or ‘lesser’ place without her, it is a different place now that this quiet pioneer has entered the mystic realm of myth. Patricia Maxine Mallette was fluent in three … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Mach Two Max Has Gone Ashore

Veteran Talk – Deceleration is Authorized!

(Pensacola, Florida; Jan. 23, 2022) – The military life is a fast-paced, tightly scheduled animal defined by rigid schedules and flavored with the endless expectation each member will never stop striving forward towards greater leadership and responsibility. The post-military ‘slow down’ in life can make you feel like a bird flying smack into a plate … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Deceleration is Authorized!

Veteran Talk – Urgently Needed Care

(Pensacola, Florida; Jan. 15, 2022) – Well, that was new! These past several months have been rather crazy.  I bought a house, moved in, got settled, checked into the VA medical system here in Pensacola, spent the holidays with family stretched from Florida to Tennessee, dodged those horrible tornadoes in Kentucky last month, and finally … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Urgently Needed Care

Veteran Talk – Morning Quarters

(Niceville, Florida; 16 September 2021) – Twenty-four years ago today I was a trembling, quaking, skinny (yes, I was skinny!) 25-year-old kid swearing into the Navy at the MEPS in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s always fun to look back a bit and see how far you’ve come.  It doesn’t take a scanning electron microscope to see … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Morning Quarters

Veteran Talk – Twenty Years Later

(Niceville, Florida; 11 September 2021) – Twenty years ago today I was standing on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) as we spun up the Tomcats of VF-213 for a routine day of flying over the Arabian Sea. One of our civilian tech reps had a small camera and waved to me, … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Twenty Years Later