Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 15 October 1997 During a recent trip to Okinawa, I toured several sites from the World War II battle for Okinawa. Known by the Japanese as “Typhoon of Steel,” the battle lasted almost ninety days, killing more than 12,500 Americans and 244,000 Japanese. The only land battle […]
This trail up Mount Fuji is steeper than it looks! Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 7 October 1998 One year ago was my first attempt to climb Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain. A dormant volcano that reaches almost 13,000 feet above sea level, Fuji is the most frequently climbed mountain in the […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 3 September 1997 Mount Fuji, at 12,388 feet above sea level, is the highest and most famous mountain in Japan. Climbing it is a popular sport for residents and visitors alike. Many Japanese climb annually as a religious pilgrimage, spending the night on the mountain to watch […]
Originally printed in Clear Lake Courier — 16 December 1998 Mount Pinatubo is a volcano fifty miles north of Manila on the Philippine island of Luzon. Dormant for 600 years, it was classified inactive until it erupted in 1991.Monitoring and observation in early June showed significant enough changes that public warnings were issued of an […]
Originally printed in Clear Lake Courier — 29 July 1998 Lieutenant Yoshio Shiga of the Japanese Imperial Navy commanded one of the Zero fighter squadrons that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He is now 84 years old and the owner of a Tokyo company that makes security systems for military and law enforcement […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — October 2, 1996 The first day lasted 25 hours. We drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, early Tuesday morning. When I arrived in Japan and checked into my BOQ room at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Wednesday morning’s Today show was on television. The Boeing 747 left Seattle […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — July 3, 1996 This isn’t the column I intended to write last month. I had expected to tell about running a forty-mile ultramarathon in Tennessee on May 4. Instead, that was the day I attended the funeral of my nephew, Cody Lee Paver. He was five years […]
 Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — August 7, 1996 He was the only person to go from the very bottom of the Navy to the very top, from seaman recruit to Chief of Naval Operations. He was also the first CNO who did not attend the Naval Academy. In 1956 Jeremy “Mike” […]
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — November 1, 1995 Did you serve in the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or wartime Merchant Marine, either in the reserves or on active duty? If so, you’re eligible to have your photograph displayed in the Navy Memorial Log at the U.S. Navy Memorial and […]
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 […]