USS Iowa – Farewell Salute to “The Big Stick”

USS Iowa (BB-61) was the lead ship of a class of battleships built during World War II. The four ships of this class, Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, were designed to operate as an integral component of a “fast carrier task force.” This meant their primary focus would be defending aircraft carriers against surface …

Overview of the Suisun Bay “Mothball” Fleet

Travelers driving north across the Martinez Bridge are treated to an unusual sight upriver. A number of gray ships, moored abreast in several rows about a mile east of the bridge, patiently await their fate. These ships are commonly referred to by the public as the “mothball fleet.” Immediately following the end of World War …

Connecting with History

In his 1998 best-selling book The Greatest Generation, journalist Tom Brokaw argues that men and women born between 1910 and 1925 were America’s greatest generation. As youngsters, they grew up having to endure the great depression, an economic time far worse than the recession we have just experienced. Before these Americans had regained a reasonable …

Chasing Light with Passion

This was a year of adversity for most Americans. For many, it meant the end of an era, whether the loss of a home to foreclosure, or a long-held job, or just the ability to go on a real vacation. Adversity is like a psychological nor’easter—a great storm that blows into our lives without being …

The Inverse Village of Danville

When Randy was selected by the Peace Corps to go to Tanzania in 2006, my wife Jennifer and I hatched a plan to visit him halfway through his two-year “tour of duty.” Our goal was Two-fold—to get him out of his remote village for a while and for us to experience Africa, since we’d never …