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 left the ES Navy in 1972. We already planned to move to Israel. I considered the possibility of sailing in the Israeli Merchant Marine nd got a couple of letters of recommendation before we left. I also arranged for a US Merchant Marine document, but that’s a separate story. We made the move and … More A Remarkable Eye Test
September 20th was the Muslim Holiday of Ashura. It commemorates the death of the last members of the prophet Mohammed’s family. Historically they were killed in the battle of Karabala. But the Shiites have been waiting for their return (a second coming?) for some 300 years, There are some interesting aspects to the holiday according … More The Ashura Muslim holiday
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
Scrabble is one of our favorite games. We play it on the Sabbath, when anything involving writing or electricity is not allowed for orthodox Jews, It isn’t writing, because the tiles have letters pre-printed on them. It also doesn’t make real words because the positioning of the tiles is not permanent and disappears at the … More A Scrabble Diversion
When I was transferred to a new ship, The USS Elokomin, she was just finishing a tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. I flew from Norfolk, VA to Athens/Piraeus. After passing through Greek immigration control I checked when the ship was due to leave. I had an extra 3 days. I … More Do the Authorities Think I’m still in Greece?
When the Okinawa returned to North Island I wanted to see Madeline, my fiancee. In those days there was no bridge yet. Travel from North Island was by ferry boat. One of the other officers was in the duty section and had to stay on the ship. He also had a car at North Island. … More Stick Shift for the first time.
When I applied for voluntary recall I was assigned as assistant CIC officer in USS Okinawa, a helicopter carrier. The justification was that the CIC officer, a pilot on his first shipboard qualification tour, was expected to be conversant with aircraft procedures, but might need help in matters connected to surface warfare. In this particular … More I learn to be a safecracker
I applied for graduate school to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I was accepted. But classes started only in June so I had almost 6 months to wait. The Student Zionist organization, of which I had been a member , was looking for a regional director for the Middle Atlantic States area. I got the … More A Busy Summer – 1966
My maternal grandparents escaped from Ukraine, then part of Czarist Russia, in 1905. At some point after arrival they, along with many other Jewish families, applied for a land grant under the provisions of the homestead act of 1862. The Bureau of Land Management records show that Harry Weisman was granted a 160 acre farm … More A Piece of Paper + A Piece of Land = A Piece of History
Wetherhorn 