Memorial Day Speech by CAPT Diane Diekman, USN (ret)
May 29, 2017
American Legion Post 13, Willow Lake, South Dakota

If South Dakota hadn’t passed a law in the mid-1960s to allow only 12-year school districts, I wouldn’t be standing here today. I’d be a retired country schoolteacher instead of a retired U.S. Navy captain.

That law dashed my childhood dream of teaching in the same sort of one-room country school I grew up in near Clear Lake. Teaching in town schools didn’t interest me. So I enlisted in the Navy after college graduation. (more…)

FEATURED ARTIST–LEONA WILLIAMS
When Leona Williams and I scheduled a phone conversation, she was in Phoenix, Arizona. She was visiting friends there in conjunction with playing several shows. Now she is off to Texas for two performances this weekend before heading back to Nashville.

Ron Williams, Leona’s son, sometimes tours with her. In addition to several duets, they each have a solo portion on their shows. They usually travel without a band. Mark Yeary, longtime pianist for Merle Haggard, arranged the band for their Phoenix shows. Ron is Leona’s middle child. Cathy is the eldest. Two sons, Ron and Brady, were born to Leona and her second husband, Ron Williams, Sr. (more…)

I recently received this email from the Library of Congress: “The National Recording Registry is an annual list from the Library of Congress. Twenty-five recordings are named to the Registry every year. The Registry now numbers over 400 recordings. Each recording has been chosen by the Librarian of Congress, with input from the National Recording Preservation Board. These recordings have been deemed so vital to the history of America—aesthetically, culturally or historically—that they demand permanent archiving in the nation’s library. Those of us who work on the Registry are attempting to build a variety of scholarly essays on each of the 400 titles on the Registry. I was wondering if you might be able write something for us/the Library on the topic of Marty Robbins and his Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album?” I said yes. My submission deadline is the end of this year. (more…)