While the United States used nuclear weapons against Japan in 1945, she did not use them against North Korea in 1950. With vanishingly few geopolitical—or even partisan political—guardrails to keep her from doing so, why did the United States not drop the bomb in the later war? At 10:15 at night on September 6, 1950, [...]
The Army exists to preserve the republic and the strong foundations upon which it stands: family, God, country, liberty, and justice. What has historically made America unique is the durability of its institutions against the passions and prejudices of the moment. When times are turbulent, what matters most is that which is permanent, timeless, enduring, [...]
We must respect the difficulty and danger of the jobs of those who protect us and stop willfully blinding ourselves to the unpleasant realities around us. Let us defend, support, and celebrate our police and our military; without them, our world would be a far more perilous place. This semester, I am happily exercising one [...]
Today I honor the men and women of the United States military who have sacrificed their lives while doing their duty to the Republic. For them, and their families, I ask God to bless them and keep them. And for the fallen of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army [...]
"Without Bruce Springsteen there would be no Vietnam veterans movement." —Bob Muller, head of the Vietnam Veterans of America, 1981 Bruce Springsteen recorded this song for the closing credits of the movie Thank You For Your Service. The film drama is based on the real-life experiences of Iraq War veteran Adam Schumann. Springsteen recorded the [...]
Shortly after the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941, Sammy Kaye and Don Reid wrote the music and Reid wrote the words to "Remember Pearl Harbor." On December 17, 1941, RCA Victor recorded the song, with Sammy Kaye's Swing and Sway Band and The Glee Club.* History in ev'ry century records an act that lives [...]
During World War Two, the famed English conductor Eugene Goossens, music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, commissioned various American composers to submit patriotic pieces to celebrate the Allied war effort against Germany, Italy, and Japan. Eighteen compositions (including one by Goossens himself), brief fanfares all, were submitted and were played over the course of [...]
To the end of his days, Andrew Jackson harbored suspicions about the United States employing a standing army. A standing army was a waste of a country’s resources, and even more so, a danger to the liberties of its people. To understand Andrew Jackson, his thought, his policies, and his legacy, one must understand the [...]
Controversy surrounds the story of John Sullivan’s life. Yet he is among the representative Americans of his time—generous to a fault, jealous of his personal honor, optimistic, gregarious, ambitious, and “larger than life.” John Sullivan (1740-1795), lawyer, entrepreneur, soldier, and political leader of New Hampshire during and after the American Revolution. Both a commercial and [...]
Because of the extraordinary valor shown by so many young men on that distant beach, America stood singular and tall in the saddle. It was her finest hour and for that at least we must be grateful. General Mark W. Clark, whose Fifth Army led the capture of Rome in June of 1944, was the [...]
Today, the degree of popular ignorance of World War II is astounding, especially among college-age Americans, who study it, if at all, as a lesson in victimhood and injustice. In truth, however, World War II was our “Aeneid,” an epic struggle against authentic evil, which at once created the nation and framed its destiny. The [...]
In this secular age, the fact that Mel Gibson did not shy away from the reality that the hero of "Hacksaw Ridge" was a conservative, Bible-believing Christian makes the film all the more astounding. Mel Gibson’s new film, Hacksaw Ridge continues the controversial actor and director’s taste for gusto, guts, and glory. From Mad Max [...]
A recent essay in another online journal tells a heartwarming story from Kansas City that involves tiny houses. For those of you who do not know what a “tiny house” is, it is simply a house that is very small (obvious enough?) meaning 400 square feet or less. I have written, here, about the “tiny [...]
"The East is another name for the West"—Sufi proverb In Memory of Stephen J. Masty When, in happier days, she was inscrutable "Arabia," and felix the plucky cognomen-ex-virtute honoring a mythological lineage of Sheban queens, Roman misadventure, and flourishing trade routes scented in cinnamon and frankincense, the greatest of English explorers submitted to her virgin [...]