Welcoming Autumn With Open Arms

    While the changing colors of the foliage are a good indication, my cat’s rapturous excitement over the bevy of migrating birds in the field next to our home serves as the ultimate confirmation autumn is now fully upon us. After unflinchingly gazing out my office window for untold hours, her muscles a study in tautness and her tail languidly sweeping arcs in the air, when the wayward fowl finally make an appearance it must feel like the feline equivalent of winning the lottery.

    I welcome this particular autumn’s arrival with open arms as it signals the end of a summer where nearly every plan I made was either sidetracked or curtailed and my attention was torn away from my very raison d’être, my work. I have decided this change connotes a point (albeit a somewhat arbitrary one) from which I intend to regain some semblance of forward momentum with the book. Having contended with the constant anxiety of potentially being uprooted (through no fault of our own, I might add), and having spent too many hours either packing or hunting for a suitable new domicile for several months, I too need some sort of pay off. Hey, why should my cat have all the fun?

    All that having been said, I am pleased to say I’ve spent the past few days as immersed in my work as possible. Oddly enough, this period away from my desk has actually afforded me the chance to look at the book with somewhat fresh eyes, thus it’s been somewhat easier to edit. While I am thankful for this unexpected side-effect, weeding my proverbial word garden (though a necessary evil) still pales in comparison to bringing a story to life one informational tid-bit at a time. Sadly, the “to do” list of non-book related tasks seems so immeasurably long I doubt I’ll be able to wholly immerse myself into anything else until our housing situation is resolved. So it looks like editing might well be all I can expect to accomplish anytime in the near future.
  
    Still, I suppose any progress is better than none…

    I appreciate everyone’s patience. Believe me; there was no way I could possibly account for a situation like this occurring, much less dragging on for such a long time. In the meantime I am using the time available the best way I can and I hope this mess will pass soon. I’d like to get back to some real work.

-S-

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Fate Intervenes Yet Again

    Yes folks, that loud clang you heard a little while back was the project coming to a screeching halt. Seems fate saw fit to toss a giant monkey wrench into the works in some sort of concerted effort to teach yours truly a lesson about trying to make a self-imposed deadline. Oddly enough the reason turns out to be a case of history repeating itself.

    The house we’ve been renting for over five years has been put up for sale. That’s right, it is happening again. In fact this makes the third time in less than 20 years. Thus we’re hot on the trail of a new place and trying to pack everything up. As of yet there is no exact date we have to be moved but we don’t want to get stuck trying to pack it all in a hurry if someone comes along and snatches the place up.

    With all that added into the mix there’s been very little time to devote to research and writing. I’ve been working on the marketing plan instead (I talked recently to one of the premiere aviation podcasts about a cross-promotional deal) and trying to brainstorm on ideas for the book’s video trailer. Hopefully that will pay off in the long run.

    I knew 2012 was going to be a year filled with transitions, but there was no way I would’ve ever expected a move on top of everything else.

    I have chosen to look at this delay as an opportunity. I received a slew of new information on Maj. Isaac Bonifas (the only non-West Virginian who was killed in the crash) from his family and have tracked down a few more leads which would help me tie up some loose ends. Thanks to this break I can dig a little deeper and double check everything. It will also allow me to step back and look the book over from a different viewpoint. All in all I believe that will help ensure the end product is that much better.

    It has been awhile since my last post so let me catch everyone up on what has transpired…

    First of all I had a good time at the Ohio River Festival of Books, on April 20th. While sales were disappointing I got to spend time with both Professor David Owens and author/professor Scott Burgess, which is always a pleasure, the Huntington contingency of the family also showed up en masse, so I got to spend some time with my granddaughter, and I got to sit in on a presentation given by Pulitzer Prize winning author Julia Keller (see the images page of my site for some pictures).

    I chose to forego my graduation ceremony in May so the end of my college career was rather anti-climatic. Having taken all of my courses either at the local satellite campus or online I simply don’t feel any connection to the main campus or its people. So, instead of spending hours surrounded by strangers I stayed home with my little family.

    At the end of June a freak storm ripped through the region and we were without power for several days. Nancy and I rode out the first night pretty well (even though I was low on smokes) but by day two the 100°+ temperatures started to take their toll. Luckily there was an isolated pocket with some stores open so the cigarette situation could be taken care of but, by day two it was quickly becoming unbearable. While we made it through by day three I was starting to show signs of becoming dehydrated so we took off for the Huntington area and set up camp at my daughter Tracey’s place. I can tell you this, I have never been more thankful for both the internet and icy-cold air conditioning in my entire life! We lucked out, only lost a refrigerator and freezer full of food, but on a brief tour of the region we saw numerous places with huge trees uprooted and a few places pretty badly damaged. It was a Independence Day we’ll not soon forget, that is for sure.

    So, there you have it, the past few months in a nutshell. Hold on it looks like the ride’s not over yet!

-S-

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A Lesson RE-learned

    Two things remain constant on every project I undertake: 1.) I have to be almost coerced to bring them to an end, and 2.) Once it is out of my hands the fear I might have missed some critical detail, or that I might have gotten some detail wrong, never fully leaves my noggin. Allow me to touch upon each of these in turn…

    I love the research portion of being an historian. Hell, I live for the challenge of uncovering some tidbits of information I can piece together to recreate a story from. In fact, if I don’t do this on a near daily basis I feel as though I haven’t done anything productive. I suppose this is the history geek’s equivalent of grabbing a shotgun and going hunting for some wild game (thankfully I don’t have to wear day glow orange!) as the bigger the challenge is the better. Sadly this means I fall into an almost infinite regress of research where, after a time, the size of the return begins to peter out. This leaves me endlessly digging for almost trivial facts and figures which many find just pure academic fluff. Still, I continue to do it just to feed my addiction.

    In the end bringing this all to a conclusion usually comes down to someone having the stones to intervene, to pull me aside and say “leave a little something on the table” or “pinch it off for God’s sake!”

    Yes, at first I fight their entreaties. I spout rationalizations that everyone involved knows are excuses just to keep furiously digging for one more piece of information. I hem and haw, proclaiming the work is not finished. I try to prove them wrong by finding some new and “important” find. Then, eventually, the voice of reason starts to seep into my dreams and I declare a deadline…

    The instant I type that final word embers of suspicion are set ablaze. I am plagued by the idea I have missed something critical in the story, and thus the picture is not complete. Worse, I begin to wonder if maybe there is an error somewhere in my research…

    Once it is out there for public consumption erroneous information bears as much weight as the facts. Historians present these stories because they believe there is something to be gained from learning about them, and the audience picks up out works because they want to learn about that specific occurrence. Inevitably, if there is a single erroneous fact, it will be the one which somehow gets remembered and accepted as “gospel.” I live in fear of this. Not only does it impugn my reputation, it muddies the historical record. Once that seed is sown it is damn near impossible to set things straight without causing an uproar.

    We are all human beings (read: inherently fallible), so mistakes will be made. Our best hope is these mistakes are minor. Or that they are made for a higher cause… Which brings us neatly to what this post is all about.

    Recently I did a little digging around for historian/artist John Mollison. He was looking for the serial number of an aircraft he was profiling for a veteran and needed the info ASAP. I came up with a few potential serials for him, but I wanted to make sure I got it right. So I contacted a few folks in my network. God bless the internet! Through the efforts of a wonderful handful of historians, I had the answer in a few hours and it was all confirmed within a day.

    Through my e-mails with John I was reminded of a little something I had lost sight of somewhere along the way. After receiving a rough draft of the artwork he was rendering I passed it along to various folks for their input, but the deadline came and passed before a general consensus could be made. John took it all in stride, said he hated to present a possibly inaccurate work to the veteran (Maj. Earl Depner, former CO of the 365th FS), and to the public at large, but what was important is that the Major got the work and knew his sacrifices on our behalf were appreciated.

    That stopped me in my tracks. When I began chronicling military history it wasn’t just to preserve a small piece of our past (though that is important), it was also my way of saying “thank you” to men like Maj. Jack Ilfrey, Capt. Arthur Heiden, Capt. Jim Bradshaw – men who are the very embodiment of what Tom Brokaw labeled “The Greatest Generation.” Perhaps my never ending quest for accuracy and obsessive need for details got the better of me (as I said before, you can’t take back an erroneous piece of information once it’s in print). But we live in a world of deadlines and sometimes I need to keep in mind another important fact: one of the most important deadlines of all is to ensure those great men, who did so much to keep this country safe, know they haven’t been forgotten.

    With all of that having been said, I have set a firm deadline for the final draft of Native Sons. No, I’m not announcing it publically until I have handed the book over to the editor, but I assure you it is coming up soon. While it is too late for the 21 men who perished in that tragic crash to read about themselves, it’s not too late for those who knew them…

    I'd like to personally thank Steve Blake, Daniel Carrizales, Matt Jolley, Jack Cook, Jon Bernstein, and Kevin Sullivan for all their help in making sure Maj. Depner got to see that artwork.

-S-

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We're Back!

Don't mind the dust and cobwebs, we're still cleaning the place up and it has been quite awhile...

This is just a reminder to keep checking in. There's going to be a lot of new posts coming up. I have a new project in the works, my first book, and my new website is about to be unveiled in about the next ten days or so!

Currently on my reading list: BAT*21 - William C. Anderson, P-51 Mustang Restoration - Paul Coggan, Into the Blue: Uniforms of the United States Air Force 1947 - to the Present - Vol.1 - Lance P. Young, Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It - Julia Keller, Traitors Among Us: Inside the Spy Catcher's World - Stuart Herrington, War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War - John W. Dower


-S-

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Happy Jack's Go Buggy Awarded The Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage Trophy

Having set a new standard for aircraft restorations, "Happy Jack's Go Buggy" was awarded the prestegious The Rolls-Royce Aviation Heritage Trophy at the National Aviation Heritage Invitational, in Reno, Nevada, earlier this month. This marks the second year in succession that the crew at Mid-West Aero Restorations have received the award. This year's competition featured 22 immaculately restored aircraft competing for five different awards.

I'd like to congratulate everyone involved in the restoration!

-S-

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Happy Jack's Go Buggy Named Grand Champion at Airventure!!

I am proud to announce Happy Jack's Go Buggy was named Grand Champion at EAA Airventure this year, a much deserved recognition given the tough competition it was against. Below is a short clip of the aircraft arriving at Oshkosh. (She appears about 30 seconds in.)



-S-

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Josephine's Beau

Josephine's Beau - Screentest from Russell Boyd on Vimeo.

-S-

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A Legend Returns To The Skies!

I have been hinting around about a huge announcement for several months now, and I am pleased to say I can reveal one of the projects I have been contributing to.

In early ‘07 I was contacted by the owner of a P-51 Mustang from San Antonio, Texas about his plans to restore his aircraft in the markings of P-51D-5NA Serial No. 44-13761, better known as “Happy Jack’s Go Buggy”, the mount of Captain Jack M. Ilfrey. I dug through everything I have in my archives, prepared a nearly 20 page report on the aircraft’s markings, and scoured through mission reports to uncover the its combat history, which I then presented to the restoration team at Midwest Aero Restorations, in Danville, Illinois.

I am proud to say the aircraft has now made several successful flights and, for the first time since 1944, “Happy Jack’s Go Buggy” is again gracing the skies. The official unveiling to the proud owner happened just a few days ago and the aircraft is being prepared for its first public appearance, at the EAA Airventure, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Here are some photos of the beautifully restored tribute to Jack Ilfrey as it was being put through its paces by test pilot Vlado Lenoch:






-S-

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H. A. S. Photos, As Promised

Photos from our visit to the Historical Aircraft Squadron Museum, in Lancaster, Ohio:

Yours truly leaning on one of the two restored Jeeps in the museum's collection.

An overhead shot showing the A-26 Invader, L-Bird, and Stearman.

An M5A1 Stuart light tank.

An L-Bird that saw service at Iwo Jima sometime during WWII.

An overhead view showing the dual cockpits of the Stearman.

One of the museum's many displays.

A '42 Plymouth Staff Car.

A beautifully restored Stearman trainer.

A Beech C-45 like the one Jack Ilfrey purchased and flew post-war.

A Cushman Scooter similar to the one Col. Cy Wilson rode around the flightline on during his post-war stint as C.O. of the 27th Fighter Escort Group.
-S-

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Just A Quick Update, Part Deux

Another semester has come to an end and I’ve never been happier to see the first day of summer break! The final few weeks of classes were some of the busiest of my college career thus far and I’m pleased to say things went well. I’m proud to say that, despite the setbacks caused by my illness a few months back, I still managed to make the Dean’s List for the third successive semester. I’d like to thank James Grimm, Anthony Frazier, and Bravin Hughart for carting me around while my car was acting up, without you guys I wouldn’t have been able to do it!

I have been working on some new material for the CD, so there may very well be two new sections by the time Beta testing kicks in to high gear. In addition I have also made a few new contacts so there should be new material for the profile section forthcoming. It’s beginning to look as though I may again be adding new inclusions up to the night before the master is shipped out!

Later this month Nancy and I are heading up to the Historical Aircraft Squadron Museum, in Lancaster, Ohio. I’ve attended two airshows at the airport where this museum is located, but have never taken the time to tour the facility. Their collection is supposed to include an A-26, C-45, Stearman, PT-13, and some L-birds, so I am planning to take many photos. Check back soon for those. We’re also planning to stop by the Route 33 Diner again, the site of the infamous birthday kidnapping last year, and I am looking forward to another of their massive cheeseburgers.

Stay tuned, there's more to come!

-S-


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Just A Quick Update

I am pleased to say I managed to tweak every page of the CD by the last day of my break and I couldn't have timed it better. In the past two weeks I've been contacted about new material for inclusion and, once it is all received it looks like I might have a little more work cut out for me. I am simply amazed by the wealth of information that is still out there!

The next few weeks are going to be hectic, and will culminate in finals, so I probably won't have the chance to devote any time to the project. Come May, however, I will be going at it full-bore and I am hoping to create a totally new section before I wrap everything up. So, I may have been a bit optimistic about when beta testing will begin, but I can guarantee it will be before the end of the summer!

I would be derelict in my duties here if I failed to mention this month signals the 75th Anniversary of the reactivation of the 79th Pursuit Squadron, which would later evolve into the 79th Fighter Squadron. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

-S-


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Spring Forward!

There is excellent news, folks, I have managed to put my nose to the grindstone during the first few days of my Spring Break, and I have made a lot of progress on the planned CD updates.

At this point I have tweaked approx. 70% of the pages, in addition to adding some minor inclusions, and making some minor corrections. If everything continues going well, I should be ready for the next round of beta testing by May. Keep your fingers crossed!

If all goes well, I am hoping I will have the time to also create a totally revamped companion site that will feature a lot of the new material that has been included. If nothing else, I plan to give the site a facelift sometime during the summer.

I have been insanely busy working on some presentations for local organizations. I wouldn’t have taken on so much new work if car repairs had not thinned out my wallet dramatically, but everything has gone well and it looks as though everything will be delivered on time and on budget. Hopefully all this extra effort will also assure me some much needed income during the summer break.

My family and I had a nice Easter. My two step-daughters and granddaughter drove up for a visit, and we all stuffed ourselves silly with the excellent dinner Nancy prepared. Of course I have also been feasting on leftovers ever since, and all the weight I lost while I was ill has returned with a vengeance, but it’s a small price to pay for such culinary delights.

I have also managed to find time for a little reading and have gotten a lot of excellent material for my next project. At this point I don’t expect to begin any actual writing until late this year (at the earliest,) but I believe I’ve got a good working framework from which to build upon. At this point I don’t see myself embarking down that road for quite some time, but who knows…

That’s all for this update, but don’t forget there is a big announcement coming in the next few months!

-S-


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Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

Leisure: The pleasant span of about fifteen minutes remaining to us after we recover from the ravages of the workday and before we nod off in our favorite chair.
-- Rick Bayan, The Cynic's Dictionary

Yes, I am fully aware of how long it has been since my last post; over two months, in fact. What a two months they were... Let's just say my hopes of a semester I could cruise through were dashed from the first day of classes, and this was compounded by a vicious bout with the flu, which then evolved into walking pneumonia, which led to my missing a whole week of classes.

So I have been scrambling to catch up ever since, all the while watching my chances of a third semester on the Dean's List go from a sure thing to a long shot. In addition to all this the continuing saga of car repairs, which further depleted my coffers and stranded me in the seventh plain of redneck hell for nearly nine hours. By mid-February I was beginning to become convinced that 2008 was not going to be an auspicious year. I am still leaning towards that belief.

I have since caught up in my classes, thanks to some understanding professors, but that left me absolutely no free time to work on the CD (or anything else for that matter!) Now that mid-terms are out of the way I feel a little less stressed, but I fear the damage has been done to my grades.

I wish I could say there is a lot to report about concerning the CD, but there isn't. I have tried to tweak the coding on a few pages whenever I could, but progress has been agonizingly slow. I am pleased to say that I have managed to find a few small tidbits of information, but I haven't had the chance to add most of it. At this point I am not counting on any real progress occurring before Spring Break begins.

I also recently learned that Professor David Owens, who has almost become my mentor at Marshall University, will not be teaching any classrs I need in the fall. I have been lucky, I have enjoyed most of my classes thus far, and most of my professors have been quite good, but the highlight of every semester has always been Mr. Owens' history lectures. I will miss them dearly.

At this point I am still unsure whether I will work towards a Bachelor's Degree or continue on my current course and finish up in May of next year. The number of non-Nursing classes offered at MOVC have been dwindling with each semester, so the deciding factor may well be what is being offered.

Fear not, there have been a few uplifting experiences! I have been doing some consultation work on a warbird restoration project and I recently received word it is due for completion in the summer. The warbird's owner has also invited me to the unveiling, so it looks like I'll be doing a little travelling later this year. I can't be more specific on this, I have given the owner my word I won't leak any details, but I can say this aircraft will be unlike any other ever seen!

Rest assured, I plan to cover the unveiling on this very blog, and I am hoping to have not only picture, but some video as well.

More as time allows!

Currently on my reading list: The Republic by Plato*, The End of the Line: The Siege of Khe Sanh by Robert Pisor, The Real War by Richard M. Nixon, The Cynic's Dictionary: Disgruntled definitions for our times" by Rick Bayan (*= required reading for class)

Currently in my DVD player: Assume the Position with Robert Wuhl, The Blue Max, 1941, The Battle of Britain

-S-


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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone! I certainly hope the holidays were a time of peace and family togetherness for all of you.

Things here at the Art of Syd Edwards have been a real roller-coaster ride. Soon after the end of classes I fell ill and wasn’t up to much of anything, except making sure the sofa didn’t float away, for several weeks. This was a real crash from the peak I felt from having made the Dean’s List and scoring a 4.0gpa for the Fall Semester. I’m rather proud of this accomplishment because, as I stated before, this past semester was one of the toughest I’ve been through since I started school. Added to this was a recurring series of car problems which became a real pain, especially in the wallet.

I managed to work my way through most of a pretty massive pile of books I’ve been meaning to read for months, so my downtime did have one positive side effect, but it did keep me from working on much relating to the CD.

I still have a huge number of e-mails to sort through that go as far back as the middle of last month, so if you haven’t heard from me, please, bear with me for a few more days.

As Christmas approached I regained enough energy to regain some semblance of normalcy. I had made most of my gift purchases online, so I had the leisure of lounging around the house, which allowed me some time to recover without having to worry about dealing with all the hustle and bustle of shopping. Thus, I managed to make it through the festivities without any undo stress and strain. I hope that much is the beginning of a new trend!

Everyone seemed to have had a good Christmas; we managed to surprise Nancy with the first jointly-purchased gift (four of us pitched in) in the family’s history, and Nancy surprised me with a treasure hunt that led me to a new flat screen monitor, something she knew I had been planning to purchase in 2008. Nancy and I spent New Year’s Eve at home alone watching a Twilight Zone marathon – exciting lives we lead, huh?

I still have a few days before my next semester starts so I am hoping to complete at least part of the work I had planned to do earlier in this break. The rest I’ll try to make up whenever I find some spare time and during the upcoming Spring Break. I’ve made a few new contacts recently, so I hope there is more to include in the near future!

Currently on my reading list: The Great Santini by Pat Conway, White Line Fever by Lemmy Kilminster, Behind the Lines by Andrew Carroll, The Germans: Portrait of a New Nation by Jeffrey Germin, The Cold War: A New History by John Gladdis
    -S-


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A Tribute To The USS Hermitage

Yes, I know everything is overdue, my views on GML2007, updates, the U.S.S. Hermitage site sneek preview... Blame it all on a semester that has been nothing but a bear. In short, I have never read or written so much in such a short amount of time in my entire life! Thankfully there are only a few more days to go and I get a 30 day break, I need it!

The sneek peak of the website I am creating in Tribute to the U.S.S. Hermitage (LSD-34) can be found at the link below. As for everything else, well, I'll get to that once I've had a few days to decompress.

More To Come!

    -S-


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LMAO!

This is what my daughter recently got inside of a fortune cookie, appearantly someone got the idea that the cookies are supposed to be used as advertising gimmicks... LOL!

    -S-

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GML WAS PRICELESS!

I don't have much time to post, and half of the photographs we took are still on a camera we borrowed, but allow me to say that the Gathering of Mustangs & Legends was indeed a once in a lifetime experience! In attendance were: 75+ P-51s, two P-38's, two P-47s, two B-17s, a P-40, an Avro Lancaster, two B-25s, a P-63, T-6s, a Waco biplane, a C-47, and more aircraft from the modern USAF inventory than you could shake a stick at.

Nancy and I wore ourselves out and wound up sleeping most of Saturday (I have no clue how anyone had the energy to stay for more than one day). But, you know, I think we'd both do it again in a heartbeat! We forgot the media card for one of the cameras and my old HP Photosmart really wasn't up to the task, but thanks to Nancy's excellent photography skills, we did get these shots:

Glacier Girl

Glacier Girl

Old Yeller

Cincinnati Miss

Big Beautiful Doll

Hurry Home Honey

Glamorous Gal

And a few from my cheap camera:
Yankee Lady, the Yankee Air Museum's B-17G

Ruff Stuff

Ruff Stuff's tail feathers.

As soon as I get out from under this ton of work that I have to do for school I'll post a lot more about our experiences!


My current reading list: Abundance and Anxiety: America, 1945-1960, by Gary A. Donaldson, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency, by James Bamford, Santa Maria: My Crusade for Portugal, by Henrique Galvao, The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World, By: Derek Leebaert, Berlin in the Balance, 1945-1949: The Blockade, the Airlift, the First Major Battle of the Cold War, by Thomas Parrish, The Global Cold War, By: Odd Arne Westad*, Ides of August: The Berlin Wall Crisis- 1961, by Curtis Cate, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War over Vietnam, by John B. Nichols and Barrett Tillman. *= Required reading for class.

    -S-

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Two Days and Counting!

Two days until the Gathering of Mustangs and frankly I need such a diversion. My workload at school has been a lot heavier than normal and it’s kept me from even thinking about such things as WWII aviation. Thankfully, starting Friday, I’ve got a six day break so I can get back to working on the CD, even if it is only for a short time.

A thunderstorm just passed through earlier this morning, it brought with it some much needed relief from the recent unbearable heat we’ve been suffering through. The cooler temperatures should also make gawking at row after row of P-51 Mustangs that much better on Friday. After all, I figure we best enjoy airshows like this while we can. With the rash of fatal warbird crashes this year it‘s probably a matter of time before the insurance companies raise their rates so high it’ll be impossible for warbird owners to keep their aircraft in the air. Actually, I’m amazed our government (and its infinite wisdom) hasn’t already had some knee-jerk reaction and completely banned warbirds from the skies since they once were front-line combat aircraft…

Nancy and I have been watching Ken Burns’ new documentary series, The War, on PBS since Sunday night. Initially I had thought the shows were going to air each Sunday for seven weeks, and, while the shows have been quite good, I have to question the decision to air them on consecutive nights. Two hours an evening, or more, is quite a lot to ask of people with busy schedules. Several members of a forum I frequent have also brought up a few inconsistencies, such as the sound of a single-engine Cessna playing over some footage of B-17s in formation, but thus far I’ve enjoyed most of what I have seen.
I would like to mention that one of the four cities Mr. Burns focused on, Luverne, Minnesota, was the home of Captain Francis Larkin, the 79th Fighter Squadron’s Intelligence Officer and former Assistant Group S-2, it’s too bad his was not one of the stories chosen…

One of the local PBS channels has also been airing shows about Ohio’s contributions to the war effort and these have all been quite good for locally produced programs. It thrills me to see so much attention paid to the members of the “Greatest Generation”, it’s just too bad all of us didn’t get off our collective arses and do this when more WWII veterans could have enjoyed their much deserved moments in the spotlight...

Well, back to my book analysis for History 208...

    -S-


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I Am The Luckiest Man In The World!

It has been said untold times and about an untold number of women, but never has it been as true as in this instance. My partner in cohabitational bliss, Nancy - the long suffering lady who has put up with all of my B.S. and endured a seemingly endless barrage of shows on The History Channel, History Channel International, and The Military Channel, etc., is truly one in a million.

Allow me to elaborate...

I had pretty much decided I was not going to the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. First of all my schedule right now is just too full, school and all of my other obligations seem to have just swamped me over the last month or so. Secondly, the years of abuse I have put my poor body through have taken their toll and I don't get around very well, so airshows are an endless day of approx. 100 yard hobbling jaunts with long rest periods in between. Finally, airshows are something I enjoy most when there is someone there to share the experience with and the only person I thought might be interested can't go.

This brings us to last Thursday night. I came home from classes to find Nancy had printed out a bunch of information about the show and had left it on the coffee table for me. As I scanned over the pages I asked her why she had printed it as, at that point, I really didn't plan to attend.

She replied, “I thought you might want to see it and I thought that, since it is a once in a lifetime experience, we could go together.”

To say I was dumbfounded by her reply is an understatement. Nancy doesn't share my passion for all things aviation (I don't know how she even tolerates it, to be honest,) and the last airshow we attended together (ironically enough at Rickenbacker International Airport,) was a decade ago and it had been a long, rain-filled disaster.

“Why would you want to go, hun?” I asked her. “You wouldn't have any fun.”

“I'd enjoy it,” she replied. “I'd enjoy watching you enjoy it, just watching you in your element and it's not that far to go.”

Now right there is proof positive that she is one in a million.

It has been a long time since I have been so touched by anything someone said to me. Such love and devotion is rare in this day and age and folks and I have no clue what I did to deserve it. But I can say that I am damn grateful that I have such a special lady in my life!

Now, thanks to Nancy, I'll finally get to see a P-38 close-up, and not just any old P-38, but the “Glacier Girl”! Thanks to Nancy I'll see more Mustangs than I could ever imagine being in one place together. Thanks to Nancy I'm going to see something that, although I wanted to go with a passion, I had damn near given up on and, even more, I'll have someone to share it with.

So, there you have it. We are going. The tickets have been bought and the plans have already been made. I am looking forward to this more than anyone could ever imagine, except maybe the lady on my life... I am truly the luckiest man in the world and you know what? Looking back in retrospect, I have been ever since I met this one in a million lady!

Fear not! We'll be taking several cameras along and yes, I'll be posting some of them, so check back sometime around the end of the month!

Beta testing countinues and all seems to be going very well since I identified the problem with the resizer coding. I haven't encountered any problems with the CD using two other versions of the Vista operating system, so I have my fingers crossed that was all there was. I'm going to have about a week off towards the end of the month, so I am hoping that I'll have the chance to tweak some more of the pages after our trip. Hopefully I won't be too sore or sunburned!

    -S-


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Beta Testing Continues

As I suspected, I have encountered a problem viewing the contents of the CD on systems equipped with the Windows Vista Home Premium operating system and Internet Explorer 7. I have tracked the problem down to a bit of code, which had been added to every page of the CD, that ensured proper viewing with Netscape.

I have never been a fan of Internet Explorer (any version) and use the open source Mozilla Firefox browser myself, but approx. 89% of all visitors to this site are using some version (mainly IE 6 and 7) and it would be ridiculous to produce a product that only 10% of the intended audience can view. Thus, I have to deal with whatever Microsoft throws my way.

At this point I have began to remove the code from every page and tweaking each page so it will look better in several different resolutions. Both of these tasks will take some time and, right now, that is one thing I am in short supply of. So not only does this mean the potential release date will be pushed even further back, it also means that the final version of the CD won't be guaranteed compatible with anything except Internet Explorer and Firefox.

At this point it is still 70/30 against my attending the Gathering of Mustangs and Mustang Legends, again, my schedule is just so crammed full that I honestly don't know if I can get away for this once in a lifetime experience...

There have been some new submissions concerning Lt. Benjamin McCarty and I was recently contacted by the daughter of Rollin R. Bullinger, who served with the 79th Pursuit Squadron, so I will be including some new material in the very near future.

Work on the U.S.S. Hermitage website is going well. I have already beta tested the website on several machines and all seems to work and look exactly how I want. I am preparing to contact a handful of vets from the ship and hope they will be willing to share their memories for inclusion. I am already running down a short list for the domain name and, once it has been purchased, I'll be uploading it to a server. I have also been researching the Solant Amity I cruise and the ship's role in the tracking sdown of the hijacked Brazilian liner Santa Maria. Keep checking back for a preview and the release date of the site!


    -S-


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School Days, School Days...

Here I am, back in school, and the temperature and humidity are still unbearably high. So much for any ideas of a campus on a rolling hillside that seems permanently carpeted in fallen gold and orange leaves, huh? None-the-less I returned to classes on the 21st and it looks as though things will pretty much continue on without much change. In fact I was lucky enough to get into yet another history class taught by Professor David Owens and there’s a chance I’ll be in a fourth class with him in the spring. The more things change, the more they remain the same, LOL!

I’ve been doing some minor beta testing of the CD on some computers with the new Windows Vista operating system and, thus far everything looks as though there should be no problems with viewing it on similarly equipped machines. Well, other than the myriad of glitches that one must endure with the operating system in charge of their computer…

This brings me to one of the few big changes around Casa del Edwards, I have purchased a new computer. After nearly six years of, until recently, faithful service I am about to put the old Hewlitt-Packard Pavilion (my main workhorse) out to pasture. Initially I had planned to replace it with a notebook computer of some sort, something I could carry back and forth to school, but I ran across a decent deal and took the plunge on a Dual-core AMD 64 3600+ equipped machine online. It shipped yesterday so I would imagine I’ll be spending the weekend setting it up to my quirky preferences. Granted the new system isn’t a monster, but it should do fine for the work I do. Oh, did I mention I'll be removing Vista from it as soon as it arrives? I didn't? Well, I will be.

I’ve had a few new contacts about the CD and am hoping that they will bear some amazing new fruit. After a prolonged beta testing period which will probably run through Thanksgiving break, I tentatively plan on putting in some serious work during Christmas break and hope to have everything in a much more presentable form by the first of the year. If all goes well I will probably make an announcement as to the release date soon afterward, but don’t get your hopes up just yet, I plan on taking my time and making sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” crossed before I close up shop on the Fightin’ 79th for good.

I also wanted to take this chance to remind everyone that Ken Burns’ new series, The War, will be premiering on PBS on September 23rd. Mr. Burns and his crew have taken the path I chose with the Fightin’ 79th, to focus on the man and their lives in the military, as opposed to tactics or a recitation of historical information. I believe this documentary series will probably become a “must have” for all military history enthusiasts simply because he has chosen to give us a glimpse into what it was like to be there.

I do have one small announcement to make: I will be debuting a new website, a tribute to the U.S.S. Hermitage, in early November. Those of you who know me are probably wondering why I am focusing on a Naval vessel and the answer is simple, my father served on the Hermitage in 1960 and 1961. I have been collecting memorabilia relating to the ship for quite some time now and, spurred on by a IT class assignment to build a website, I opted to go ahead and finally put everything together. Keep checking back for the URL and, if I have the chance to upload it, a sneak preview!

My current reading list: America and the Cold War, by Richard J. Walton, Spies Beneath Berlin, by David Stafford, The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe, On Yankee Station: The Naval Air War Over Vietnam, by John Nichols and Barrett Tillman, The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times, by Odd Arne Westad*, and Operation Overflight: The U-2 Spy Pilot Tells His Story For The First Time, by Francis Gary Powers and Curt Gentry. (*= required reading for class)

    -S-


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Summer's Almost Gone...

    It never fails to amaze me. Every time I begin to think that there isn’t much more left to uncover about the Fightin’ 79th, a wave of new material or contacts seem to appear as if from the ether. Case in point, in the past week I have received new information on Maj. Delynn Anderson, Lt. Benjamin McCarty, Capt. Glenn Webb, and Lt. Harry Watson, Jr., all of which will make their profiles that much more complete. I have also located three new books which contain references to the 20th Fighter Group and I found some new information in some of the oldest material I have in my collection. Needless to say, I’ve been busy trying to include all of this new material.

    My research time will, once again, revert to a limited basis beginning later this month. My next semester of classes start on the 21st and that will be demanding most of my time and efforts. However, I do plan to start on a limited amount of beta testing by the 1st of September. I am curious how well the CD will work on systems with the Windows Vista OS and I will be doing some testing on newer versions of several browsers.

    For those of you who haven’t heard, PBS will be airing a new seven-part series called The War in late September. This Ken Burns documentary looks to be a true masterpiece and may well be remembered as one of the most definitive of the genre. For more information go to the official site. PBS has also been airing the latest season of the History Detectives on Monday evenings and nearly every episode has had some WWII or aviation related story.

    Also coming up is the Gathering of Mustangs and Mustang Legends, in Columbus, Ohio on September 27-30th. I am hoping to attend but my expenses for this semester of school will be the deciding factor. From what I have read there are supposed to be over 100 P-51 Mustangs in attendance as well as numerous legendary P-51 pilots. For more information check out the official site.

    I am happy to announce I have started some preliminary work on my next project. At this point I don’t want to make any big announcements as I am not 100% sure that, with my already full schedule, I will have the chance to give this project the full attention it requires at least until next summer.

    Unlike the Conspicuous Gallantry debacle (which I ultimately decided against because it held only a local appeal and this area is too busy pushing the Mothman myth to bring in tourists,) I have chosen something with much wider appeal and many of those involved are still around to tell their tales. I will say that this project will be at least twice as large as the Fightin’ 79th and will contain a lot more audio and video material. It will not be aviation related.

    Once things progress to a point where I am ready to preview some of the material, I’ll be making an official announcement and a companion site will be created.

    -S-


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Summer Vacation, Yeah Right!

Well, so much for a relaxing vacation from the grind of higher education!!!!

Things have been hectic since my last post, business has picked up and I've been knocking out Power Point presentations for local non-profit organizations and working on the studio (which has been dubbed "Der Bunker" LOL!!!) when I get tired of looking at a computer monitor or recording voice overs. In addition my daughter was involved in a pretty serious automobile accident last week and the two of us have been spending a lot of time with our backsides getting to know more waiting room chairs than we'd care to mention. The good news is she is fine other than a badly bruised knee, scrapes and bruises, and nine staples in her head. The car she was riding in was a total loss. Needless to say, when I got the phone call I aged about six years in 30 seconds!

With all of that going on, believe it or not, I've still managed to find some time to work on the CD! First off I am reconsidering the inclusion of the Overview of WWII as I'm not 100% sure that it adds anything to the overall informational content - after all there are libraries full of books on the subject. Secondly I've been doing some further research into the equipment that pilot's used and hope to get that section of the CD fleshed out by month's end (my work schedule willing.) I also have a list of contacts that I plan to re-touch base with.

One big development is I have located a recording I made of conversations I had with various men, including Jack Ilfrey, Harley Brown, Don Rheimer and Robert Phipps at the 1999 20th Fighter Group reunion. I had thought these tapes had been lost but found they were placed in the wrongly labeled cases many moons ago. I haven't listened to them yet but I do remember a couple of excellent stories that were told and I am hoping to digitize and include them before I return to school in August. If all goes well I may even post some samples!

I would also like to mention the continued help and support of Capt. Arthur Heiden, without whom this project would have not been the same. Capt. Heiden reported some problems with viewing the CD using the AOL browser (one of the few I didn't test it with,) and I am hoping to uncover whether the problem is a result of coding errors or some new update from America Online that is interfering with the proper viewing of the content. He has also remained one of the greatest sources of information I have come across and I feel deeply indebted to him!

As most of you have gathered I didn't get the chance to post the footage of Joseph Peterburs on Weaponology that I mentioned a few months back. The video footage came out fine but I ran into major problems with the audio that only worsened with attempted digital enhancement.

I have also been catching up on some reading, my current list includes: Mayday - Eisenhower, Khruschev and the U-2 Affair by Michael Beschloss, Stuka Ju-87 by Lt. Col. A. J. Barker, Ordinary Heroes : A Novel by Scott Turow (fiction), Aviation Cadet by Joesph Archibald (fiction), "This Is No Drill" - Living Memories of Pearl Harbor by Henry Barry, The Arms of Krupp by William Manchester, and Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler (fiction).

    -S-


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The Dust Finally Begins To Settle

We are somewhat settled in at the new home and life has taken on some semblance of normalcy again. We’re still in the final stages of unpacking and searching madly for little necessity items that have gone missing in action, but we’re all thankful the stress and strain of moving is now behind us.

My studio is roughly set-up. By this I mean I have the furniture and equipment basically in place and I have electricity to a portion of the area. I still haven’t unpacked much of my personal items and library, however, as there has just been too many other little things to take care of. I’m estimating I should be all set-up and ready to go by the end of the month. (fingers crossed)

There hasn’t been much to report concerning the CD. Earlier this week was the first time I’ve had the chance to look things over. I was spurred to action by having made contact with the grandson of Capt. John K. Taylor, who has agreed to submit information and photographs for inclusion. I also dug up two books that had been missing since our last move six years ago, one of which has an interview with Lt. Stephen Saltzman about his experiences at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, so I intend to go through them with a fine-toothed comb. In the meantime I am planning to start work on the overview section I mentioned in previous posts.

Yesterday Nancy kidnapped me and drove me to an art deco style roadside diner in Ohio for a special birthday lunch. I have always wanted to see one of these pieces of pure Americana and I wasn’t the slightest bit disappointed. While the building appears to have been recently constructed it still maintained the spirit of the era quite well and the food portions were huge!


The Route 33 Diner, Rockbridge, Ohio


Told you the food portions were HUGE!


Birthday Boy and His Kidnapper

Afterward we roamed around the nearby flea market and I picked up a WWII vintage Swiss M-18 army helmet and then Nancy surprised me (yet again) with a beautiful Charles H. Hubbell print of Colin Kelly’s B-17 being shot down. For those of you not familiar with him, Hubbell was one of the pioneer aviation artists and his work was a very early influence on my work so it is a nice addition to my small but growing collection.


Swiss M-18 Army Helmet

Charles H. Hubbell Print

In short, it was a great day! We both had a good time, and we plan to go back to the diner for a root beer float sometime soon!

    -S-

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