The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: world war II

  • How Deprived Are We?

    Perspective.

  • My Imaginary Father

    I used to think he was strong.

  • Small World, Indeed.

    After graduating from high school, one of the first colleges I attended was Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, the “nation’s oldest city.” I’m using quotes because the Anasazi in Chaco Canyon would have been highly amused by this designation. Nevertheless, St. Augustine is a beautiful, historic town. But if you’re a student without a car…

  • The Cats of Mirikitani

    One of the things I love about being a City of Seattle employee is that I am required to do at least two hours of race and social justice training per year. As part of that this year, I had the distinct pleasure of viewing a documentary called The Cats of Mirikitani. In keeping with…

  • Trump is the New Hitler

    I have a German last name, and because of that I have always taken the events that led up to, and occurred during, World War II very seriously. Growing up, I was fascinated by the Diaries of Anne Frank and all things related to concentration camps. I was proud of the fact that my father…

  • Jeannette Rankin: A Woman Who Stood Alone

    Recently I watched a program about the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and in it they mentioned in passing that after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt went to congress to ask them to declare war on Japan and there was only one vote against it. Think about that for a minute. That had…

  • Do you Know this Child? Help Solve a Mystery.

    This photograph has haunted me my entire life. If you know anyone from France, Germany or Austria, or the US Army 65th Infantry, please share this story with them on any social media you choose. My father served during World War II, and he brought home many photographs and even more stories, most of them…

  • Dogs for Defense

    Proof positive that we Americans are not the people we used to be: shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a program was created called Dogs for Defense. Citizens were asked to volunteer their dogs to be trained to help with the war effort. They were to become sentries, scouts, messengers and mine detectors.…

  • To War or Not to War

    There really hasn’t been a good clean war that everyone could sink their teeth into since World War II. Okay, I’m being sarcastic, but at least we can all agree that Hitler was the bad guy, and people were willing to ration their food and give up their panty hose for the cause. We were…

  • “Enthusiosity”

    There’s a streak that runs through my family, and it’s as wide as the Mississippi River. For lack of a better word, I call it “enthusiosity”. It’s curiosity mixed with a great deal of enthusiasm. My mother had it more than anyone else. She’d get interested in a topic such as Australian History, and she’d…