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nice story

Rafa — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 02:03:35 -0400

thanks, nice topic. search with <a href="http://google.com">google</a>

Unfortunately, Bush Junior

joeanne — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:26:26 -0400

Unfortunately, Bush Junior ruined the good impression he could've made based on his father's good actions. He should go on a tatil which is vacation in Turkish, and leave us alone!

My rankings

birdflewover — Wed, 5 Dec 2007 08:47:52 -0500

10. Ronald Reagan, for destroying the fairness doctrine in media, invading Grenada, financing terrorism (Iran-conta, Guatemala, and much more), pulling the roots from under a socialist America which worked fairly well and let Corporate CEOs pull the strings in Washington instead of defending the people and the Constitution from greed, which was his job and sworn oath. As for Russia and the Cold War, today Russia and China are much bigger threats to us, than they were when they were communists, communism kept them weak.

9. Bush-Nixon tie here for all the obvious reasons

8. Clinton for sanctions against Iraq which killed half a million children.

7. Johnson for sacrificing Americans to please military contractors by starting the war in Vietnam

6. Truman for Hiroshima and Nagazaki both were not necessary to save our soldiers lives, they were dropped so our ally the USSR would not get there before us and claim Japan.

5. Eisenhower for replacing a true Democracy in Iran with a dictator (CIA led overthrow in 1953) that eventually led to Savak (cia trained) terrorism for the Iranian people and eventually religious terrorism , when they were well on their way to being a social democracy like the USA in 1953. The reason was oil, the Iranian social democracy wanted to distribute the oil riches to the people not give it to the oil companies. Bad move Ike.

4. Bush Daddy, for continuing the work of Reagan in the erosian of our middle class and the erosian of our hard fought for civil rights.

3. Ford for being a coward in pardoning Nixon, who should have been thrown in jail for war crimes, crimes against humanity etc especially his work with Kissinger in destroying budding democracies in South America and replacing them with tyrannical dictators. Ford also encouraged the massacre in East Timor a war crime in itself.

2. Kennedy, great President, though he screwed up big time with Cuba and Vietnam because of his fear of the Republican party and not getting re-elected, yet had they not killed him I'm sure he would have made this country truly great.

1. Carter for his start of the green economy that the Republicans killed, for his great strides resolving the Palestinian crisis, the best President this country has had since Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln... had he been re-elected instead of Reagan we would be completely independent from Saudi oil and we'd be exporting green technology around the world with a huge booming economy today, 9/11 never would have happened, elections do have consequences my friends.

Keeping the Memories Alive

TR Daggett — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:17:43 -0500

Mike,

I'd like to add my thanks to you and the rest of the folks involved in this project. I was particularly heartened to read that younger people are also involved. That connection between the young and old is important in so many ways. I wasn't fortunate enough to have known any of my grandparents, and the older I get the more I miss knowing them. I kind of lost the connection between generations not having their wisdom and experience available as I was growing up. I've started realizing that more and more since my father died last April.

As many family members do, I hesitated asking too many questions about his experiences during WWII for fear that it would bring back painful memories. Things like [unknowingly] standing in human ashes at a death camp.

When we did speak of the war it would be about how he earned his Purple Hearts, of which he joked "I got blown out of the jeep I was driving and the Chaplin didn't get a scratch on him!". He never spoke about how he earned the Bronze Star or what it was like on Utah beach on D-Day.

I only learned about the death camp experience from a speaker at his funeral. Since then I've realized that there are so many questions I would have loved to have asked him but didn't, and now it's too late. Thank goodness for the mementos he saved, but they're a poor substitute for talking to him when I had the chance.

Any chance I get I encourage young folks (and the not so young) to talk to their parents and grandparents while they have the chance. Find the courage to ask tough questions if you have them. You'll be glad later.

This project and others like it help to keep the memories alive and in the process helps bring the generations closer. It can also provide valuable lessons to help guide us through the troubled times we now find ourselves in.

Thanks again for helping to keep the memories alive.

Thank You

Bill Bunker — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 09:31:32 -0400

Mike,

Thanks for your efforts in bringing this series to light. My dad is a WWII veteran and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He is one of handful in his bomber wing that is still alive and we heard over the weekend that yet another of his crew mates is very ill. Dad, is healthy at 85, he doesn't say much, but it must be difficult to watch contemporaries pass on, one by one.

This particular friend has stayed in touch for over 60 years and the families visit almost yearly. Getting my dad and his crew mate together in the same room was a highlight of my childhood and I always loved to hear them discuss the missions and stories. What strikes me as interesting is how they were resigned to the fact that any day could be their last. They would speak about friends and aquaintances that were not as fortunate and were killed in battle; you could see the pain and sadness in their eyes. I think though, that the yearly trading of stories helped them weather this pain.

I think that your efforts are admirable, thanks and keep up the great work!

Bill Bunker

me too.

Dan Meeks — Wed, 8 Aug 2007 07:39:02 -0400

My wife says I buy too many books and that we have far too many. Her cure is "go to the library." This never works. I need to have the book myself and in hard copy. Shelf life in paperbacks is not good at all. So I try to buy only hardbacks. She is tired of moving my books and threatens to have them towed away by a moving company. I love my books. They are like family to me. I need to own a home that has nothing but book shelves on each and every wall. Of course, you know who disagrees with that.

Whew

Linda Odum — Tue, 7 Aug 2007 16:07:39 -0400

It is so nice to know that I'm not the only one with shelves full of books that haven't been read...yet. I keep telling myself that I'm not allowed to buy anymore until I finish the ones I have, but as you might have guessed, this never works.

New Orleans - A failure of the White House?

Susan Sherrouse — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:06:40 -0400

I'm not sure how New Orleans is a failure of the White House.

Louisiana and the City of New Orleans were provided monies by the Congress for the US Army Corps of Engineers for the maintenance of the levee system. These monies were not spent on the levee system, and were redirected towards other programs once they entered the coffers of the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans.

You have to live down in NO to understand they mentality of some of the people there. They look to the Federal Government to have the solution to all their problems. There is very little initiative taken by the government, because they all believe that it's the duty of the federal government to step in and tare care of them.

And please don't tell me there are no jobs there. There are so many jobs available there that are being filled by anyone wanting a job. Wages are good, as employers understand that because of the Hurricane, housing costs have gone up, and it's also hard to hire and retain good workers.

So, please, don't tell me that New Orleans is a failure of the White House. You only have to travel 65 miles to the east to see where that same catastrophe impacted, and the people there have not waited for the government to give them money. They have gotten jobs post-Katrina, worked on their homes, and gotten on with their lives.

New Orleans is not a failure of the White House. New Orleans is a failure of it's own corrupt governement.

Doonesbury

Sarah Colombo — Fri, 6 Jul 2007 00:09:13 -0400

Congress was a mistake right?

Stories from the Past

Susan Sherrouse — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:52:44 -0400

I enjoy listening to older Americans talk about the times in which they grew up, what was impacting their lives, and how they lead their lives.

As a daughter of a WWII vet, and the wife of a Vietnam vet, I also worry about so many stories that will be lost when these veterans die. But I'm also concerned about the lives of those who fought in a different way, here on the home front. These stories also need to be preserved.

I have been heartened by a project which was taking place at what is now the National WWII Museum (formerly the D-Day Museum) in New Orleans. They had started to collect the verbal history of many veterans, so that their memories of the war would not be forgotten. Since Hurricane Katrina, the name of the museum changed to the National WWII Museum, and I'm not sure what has happened to this project.

Our younger generations know nothing of the sacrifices made by the soldiers of WWII and their families back home. This is an important piece of history, worth preserving. I'm glad that Ken Burns has finally told this story.

In many cases I think

Joan Mirantz — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:40:23 -0400

In many cases I think it's not so much the information itself...but the people seeking it!

Someone seeking the truth will check and re-check. Someone looking for amunition will take what fits!

I am quite active on a Real Estate Blog. It involves Realtors from coast to coast. It's a great system because if one is seeking information, advice, feedback or support it is a fabulous resource and if someone puts out the wrong info....there are many people more than willing to correct it!

I agree this is a fabulous medium...but like everything else...there is always someone looking to abuse it!

I'll make note of Mike's

Joan Mirantz — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:21:52 -0400

I'll make note of Mike's name! good (and dependable) electricians are few and far between!

Glad it worked out OK

Good luck with the wedding!

Sorry it took me till

Mike Pride — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:55:35 -0400

Sorry it took me till Wednesday, Joan, but . . .

I was driving down to Logan late Monday afternoon to pick up my in-laws from Belgium when my cell phone rang. I took a deep breath and opened the phone to the voice of Mike Bartlett. It turns out he is an amazing, wonderful electrician. He and his partner had not only installed a new box, pipe and meter on the side of our camp but also called the New Hampshire Electric Coop to come hook the power line back up. Then he had checked inside to make sure the fuse box hadn't been damaged.

The plane was late, and we didn't get home till nearly 11. But the lights went on, and everything worked.

Thanks for asking.

So this is Tuesday...what

Joan Mirantz — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:50:17 -0400

So this is Tuesday...what happened?

Art

Sarah Colombo — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 08:00:15 -0400

Please don't neglect to put museum and exhibit suggestions in your blog.