Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — April 17, 1996 Sergeant Major Charles Black, assigned to the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was on temporary duty in El Salvador just before Christmas 1989. While coordinating in-country training for Special Forces teams, he stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in the […]
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — March 27, 1996 Several years ago a 12-man U.S. Army team was sent to a remote village in northern Thailand. As soon as the team arrived, they set up a medical clinic and started giving checkups and shots to the children. A local drug warlord, who didn’t […]
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — February 22, 1995 “I do not think you read your mail personally. We the people would like to think so though.” That comment represents the hope of many who write to the President of the United States. Even if President Clinton devoted all his waking hours to […]
Originally published as”Kobe Earthquake” in the Clear Lake Courier — July 15, 1998 The earthquake that struck Kobe (ko-bay), Japan, in 1995 registered 7.2 on the Richter scale and lasted twenty seconds. Fires and collapsed buildings and bridges throughout the city killed 5000 people and injured 21,000. More than 275,000 of the city’s 1.5 million […]
Originally published in the January/February 1995 issue of “DC Road Runners Review & Schedule,” Washington DC The invitation in the mail was for a 14-mile moonlight trail run. I had joined the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club because I wanted ultrarunning contacts in my new home, but so far I had not met any of […]
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — September 13, 1995 Korean War veterans finally had their day in the sun. Four days actually, and the sun definitely did shine. The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington DC on July 27, the 42nd anniversary of the end of the Korean War. The four-day […]
[Written to tell children about the POW/MIA issue] Imagine being a pilot shot down behind enemy lines during a war. You would be missing in action (MIA) if our government did not know where you were. If you were a soldier captured by the enemy, you would be a prisoner of war (POW). In either […]
[Published in the Clear Lake Courier (South Dakota) on December 12, 2007] Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story, Diane Diekman’s biography of country music legend Faron Young, has been officially released in Nashville, Tennessee. Diekman, a 1968 graduate of Clear Lake High School, spent seven years researching Young’s life and writing his biography. […]
BOOK SIGNING IN SHREVEPORT This Sunday afternoon, February 24, I’ll be selling and signing “Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story” at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana. Thanks to Robert Gentry for setting up the event. It’s so exciting to be able to commemorate Faron’s birthday at the home of the Louisiana Hayride. […]
BOOK SIGNING IN SHREVEPORT I’ll be selling and signing “Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story” at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Sunday afternoon, February 24. It’s so exciting to be able to commemorate Faron’s birthday at the home of the Louisiana Hayride. And I’ll get to meet Claude King, because there’s a […]