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Reminisces of the ‘oom-pa-pa’

I am not a big football fan but on the rare occasions when I have visited a university stadium I love the halftime performances by the college bands. In particular, I enjoy the sousaphones in the bands. For those who are not tuba aficionados, a sousaphone is the round-belled tuba most common in marching bands as opposed to the upright tubas you see in an orchestra. The mellow bass notes of the glistening sousaphones in the marching bands or the oom-pa-pa sound of a tuba in a Dixieland or polka band always bring back memories of a brief love affair with the sousaphone when I was in ...

About that letter

Before me, I have the unsigned letter referenced in Thursday’s story announcing the resignation of this community’s assistant city manager. I could have published it, but I chose not to. There are several reasons for my decision, the first being that this newspaper routinely doesn’t publish unsigned letters. Yes, the letter I am talking about was submitted to all the city council and to the mayor. In fact, it was the mayor himself who forwarded a copy to me. So it is public record. Still, I chose not to publish it. The second reason I chose not to publish it is its intent. ...

God be with you

The English-speaking world’s most common expression of farewell, “goodbye,” originated in the 16th century as “God be with you.” Through a series of metamorphoses over the next two centuries it became the contraction we use today — “goodbye.” Its history notwithstanding, I dislike the term. I’m just not a good goodbye guy. Elizabeth Bibesco wrote, “It is never any good dwelling on goodbyes. It is not the being together that it prolongs, it is the parting.” She’s right, but that doesn’t make goodbyes any easier. Back when non-passengers were allowed in the ...

Veterans’ voices

When I was asked as a veteran to write about war, my first reaction was to say no. Why do it? Then wrote a few thoughts down. I spent 25 years — seven active duty and 18 in the guard and reserves — serving my country in the military. In retrospect, war was always something that I was thinking about and training for. It was an honor to serve my country. My father was a World War II veteran who fought the Japanese in the Philippines. He never talked about what he did, nor about the death and carnage that he saw and experienced. In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, when I ...

Veterans’ voices

When asked to share a few thoughts regarding war, there were several ideas that surfaced. It has been a long time since I’ve worn the uniform. I consider myself somewhat patriotic and I love this country. I am a Marine. Though given the prompt here, it is my intent to answer objectively and provide some analysis based on my interpretations of history as it pertains to warfare. I am 45 years old. My generation is unique in that many of us learned of war from most, if not all, of our relatives — our grandfathers and grandmothers pertaining to World War II, and our mothers and ...

Thank for your service

I want to take this opportunity to thank, and draw attention to, those men and women who have served all of us by giving of their time in this life to the safety and security of each of us. All of them have, in their lives, taken an oath. The words have changed a bit over the years, but the ...