The origin of Memorial Day dates back to the period immediately following the Civil War when ladies of the South began decorating graves of deceased Confederate soldiers.  The day was termed Decoration Day.  This practice was adopted by the Union and later would be called Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor and […]

  Nestled in Northampton County in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania lies the tiny borough of Roseto.  Just six-tenths of a square mile in size, the town was named for the village of Roseto Valfortore in Italy and settled largely by Italians employed at the numerous local slate quarries.  It is here that a […]

  Sherlock Holmes, the detective extraordinaire created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featured in four novels and fifty-six short stories, is a character who has maintained the interest of an admiring public since his introduction in print in 1887 in the novel A Study in Scarlet.  Noted for his almost fantastic logical reasoning abilities, […]

  Interrupting the news of the crisis in the Ukraine, global warming rearing its ugly head in the guise of the coldest North American winter in recent memory, the Chris Christie George Washington Bridge scandal, President Obama’s plummeting approval ratings, Jimmy Fallon taking the reins of the Tonight Show, and March Madness comes news of […]

  The epic story of the largely unsuccessful efforts of Allied airborne forces to seize control of bridges leading into Germany in an effort to accelerate the end of World War II in Operation Market Garden was recounted in the movie of the same name.  Much of the film’s drama focused on the heroic efforts […]

Recently, I received an email from a dear friend and brother in arms, Ed Honn who served our country in the Vietnam War.  It was a request to pledge to a cause that would establish a national holiday to honor Vietnam veterans for their sacrifices and service annually on March 29th.   At first, the […]

  On July 4, 1776, the United States of America declared its independence from England.  Born as a Republic exempt of royalty and bound by its Constitution, this new nation would be destined to become a world power.  No longer would there be taxation without representation, religious persecution, and disregard of the legal rights of […]

  At Christmas this year, my children and grandchildren surprised me with a shiny new laptop.  What happened to my old laptop, a startling and embarrassing tale, is a story for another day.   Upon powering up my new chariot into cyberspace, I found myself thrust into unfamiliar and very uncomfortable territory, Windows 8.  Where […]

  The natural world exhibits an order that belies its evolution out of chaos.  Yet, millennia after its creation, we on earth still ponder and debate fundamental questions.  Which came first – the chicken or the egg?  When does life begin?  And, when does it end?  These and other questions still defy definitive explanations.   […]

  The American bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki displayed for all the world the unprecedented destructive power of the atomic bomb.  Faced with extinction, the Japanese surrendered, bringing World War II – the deadliest and most widespread conflict in human history – to an end.  When the celebrations ended, information about the War transitioned from […]