This past month I added 4 models to my collection. All of them are painted in their First World War dazzle camouflage patterns. Two of them I purchased, and 2 others I built because no commercial model maker currently offers them. The difference in quality is obvious, but there were no alternatives. The Nereus is … More Some New Additions to My Model Collection
That statement, as many others that the American President has uttered, resulted in a lot of comment, both pro and con. But it should not be surprising. It is a simple recognition of Israeli rights that ought to have been affirmed long ago. I mentioned this here on my blog back in December. I’m repeating … More Trump says Golan belongs to Israel
The American Army sent a massive force of ground troops to France to help bring an end to the First World War. There were no airplanes to cross the Atlantic then, Everyone came by ship. The largest of the transatlantic passenger ships have been called superliners because they were so much larger than other ships … More The Superliners at War
I just had an item I wrote published on the US Naval Institute blog. https://www.navalhistory.org/2019/01/10/heroes-in-camouflage It’s not the first tie I ever had an item featured on-line, but it feels good to know that someone else appreciated what you’ve done enough to share it with their viewers. It was a good day all around, with … More A Good Feeling
I live in Israel. I was born in the USA. We moved to Israel in 1972. When e started out, in Haifa, we used to say that to get anything done, especially at a government office, it takes three separate visits, That was based on our experiences doing various errands and making arrangements like getting … More Adjusting to a new place
There are several Merchant Marine Academies in the US. Graduates of these institutions can accept a naval reserve officers commission if they so choose. When I was on active duty around 1970 my ship played host to a pair of midshipmen from the Maine Maritime Academy. The idea was to have them serve aboard a … More The Maine Midshipmen Caper
Having your ship sunk is probably the worst thing that can happen at sea. The next worst things are being in a collision and running aground. I’ve experienced both of those. Here is how one of the incidents occurred. USS Nantahala was in here home port of Newport, Rhode Island. She had been undergoing some … More A Strange Way to Run Aground
Landing at Hue 14 April 1965 After a short interval the amphibious group embarked another Marine battalion to bring to Vietnam. The combat troops went ashore in Danag and were moved, mostly by helicopter, to the town of Phu Bai, almost adjacent to the old city of Hue. Heavy equipment and supplies would be delivered … More Landing at Hue – 14 April 1965
Squeezing Electrons My second ship, USS Union (AK-106), was a leftover from the Second World War. She had been upgraded over the years, but, at heart, she was still from an era long past. One of the things added wasa radar installation. Union actually had 2 radars. One was primarily for air search, and the … More Squeezing Electrons
Once out of the hospital at Great Lakes I was available for reassignment. The Bureau of Naval personnel began casting about for where to send me. In the meantime, I was temporarily assigned to the staff of Ninth Naval District with headquarters in Chicago. It was a rotten job. During the short time was there … More Temporary duty – Ninth Naval District
Wetherhorn 