This may be hard for some of you to imagine, but once upon a time, there was no internet. <gasp!> I know! Crazy, right? Now imagine being far from home – away from your family and friends – and potentially in a dangerous place. Are you homesick? But… there’s something there that can link you…
Once upon a time, I met a camel named Ali and he told me all about his time in the US Army Camel Corps. He was born in Egypt but was captured by humans and loaded into the belly of a ship that spent 3 months sailing from Egypt to Texas. Sounds pretty unbelievable, doesn’t…
I will never be a student of battle tactics, never really interested in the nitty gritty details of exactly which way a battle had unfolded, minute by minute, decision by decision. I am, however, very interested in the experiences and stories of the individual people who were there. The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at…
“As our boat touched sand and the ramp went down I became a visitor to hell.” Private Charles Neighbor, 29th Division, Omaha Beach On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied troops were tasked with the mission to jump, swim, run, and crawl ashore to the cliffs at Normandy and drive the Germans back. The Germans…
I like to teach my kids at school about Veterans Day. It’s a bit tricky because they are so young. How much do you tell a 5 year old about the military in a way that emphasizes the importance without scaring them? I’m always looking for books that can tell about Veterans Day in an…
Why do we wear poppies on Memorial Day? For that matter, what is Memorial Day even about? I teach 5-year-olds so for them, these questions are nebulous at best. I love this story about Moina Belle Michael and the origin of the Memorial Poppy but unfortunately it’s too mature for my young students (better suited…
A visit to the National Museum of the Marine Corps Washington, DC is known for its many monuments and the Smithsonian museums. A short (or long depending on traffic!) drive south on I-95 will bring you to the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA. In my opinion, it is worth the drive. The…
We live about 15 miles from Manassas National Battlefield Park and have been there several times over the past 17 years. My most recent visit was in March. I took a few pictures to share with you. (I should mention that Felisa asked me why I was taking so many pictures when I had already…