Bryan Strawser

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Archives for February 2005

Back to the Grind

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Am writing this, to be posted later, from the airport in scenic Providence, Rhode Island, where I enjoy a fine chilled adult beverage in preparation for my flight back to the frigid tunda of Minnesota. Tomorrow it’s back to the land of the suit, tie, and strategy….

The week back in the homeland has been filled with some home repairs, quiet time with the sidekick, purring and cuddle time with the kitty, and some fine homecooked meals. You forget what it’s like to cook and eat your own meals until you’ve lived in a Residence Inn for two weeks.

A side note, yesterday was the Commissioning Ceremony for SSN-23, the USS Jimmy Carter, just south of here in Groton, Connecticut. A family just walked by to catch their flight, with all of them wearing USS Jimmy Carter hats. Interesting. I hope they got to go.

In the next two and a half weeks, in my time in Minnesota, will come our annual meeting, the beginnings of exploring the surrounding communities, some exploration of the possibility of building a home, and a ton of fun interesting work. I will definately be busy.

I’ve finished my cycle of 9/11 tomes and am ready to switch genres. I read several 9/11 books for work – seeking knowledge to be able to function in my new role with some sense of credibility. I still have a lot to learn, but my gut guides me well. I’ve also managed to finish all but the last of the Dune series of novels – the originals, that is.. the ones by Frank Herbert. This evening I started on Chapterhouse: Dune and that will complete the cycle. I’ve not read them all since I was around 16 years old. As I’m about to turn 31, it’s been enough time that I don’t remember what happens.

And with that, it’s off to watch TV on the PowerBook until I get to Minnesota.

Of Iwo Jima

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Lex writes today of the battle for Iwo Jima, on the day after the 60th anniversary of that battle:

These World War II veterans are among us still. We can still hear their voices. And they can still teach us.

I have been to Iwo Jima – when I was stationed in Japan, we used to fly down there to practice our carrier landing patterns prior to going aboard ship for carrier qualification. It is a small, small place to have held such death. One wonders that it did not sink under the weight of the blood of 28,000 who died there on both sides. I have walked up LST beach with Suribachi to my left, glowering down from its fog-shrouded heights. Looked right and seen more rising terrain, an elevated sea wall to the right. I have made the long climb through soft volcanic sand and finally waist high grass, to get to an uncertain summit, and everywhere, seen the mouths of cave and tunnel systems in which the fanatic hordes poured out in counter-attack after counter-attack.

In nothing but tennis shoes and a bathing suit, I have found myself panting and out of breath, and thought about the men who waded ashore that day, 60 years ago today, with 80 pound packs and the noise and their brothers falling all around them like blades of grass beneath a mower. And I have wondered how they did it, and if we, whom they made, are made of the same stuff.

After Fallujah in November, I believe that at least some of us are. As for the rest, perhaps in 60 years’ time we will learn about how our great campaign to once again liberate millions from tyranny and throw down fascism of a different stripe was truly national in character. I am sure that if this great task we are embarked upon is successful, that will be the narrative.

Success, it is truly said, has many fathers.

Back a little less than four years ago, while watching the interviews of the real men of Easy Company, during the beginning of each episode of HBO’s Band of Brothers, I wondered if our generation.. my generation, had the same stuff as the men that conquered Normandy, and the Bulge, and Tarawa, and Iwo Jima… and then 9/11 came.. and I knew that we did.. as did those of my parent’s generation who had fought in the jungles of Vietnam.. and those that fought before them in the Marne.. success, indeed, has many fathers…

Friday Musings

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No, they won’t be musings regularly here, such as what Lex does each week. I’m not that regular unfortunately.

I’m flying back to Boston after two weeks in Minneapolis where I started in my new position. Loads of fun, this new job. Incredibly smart people working in a set of beautiful buildings doing some really neat stuff. There is Starbucks in the lobby. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And that’s all I’ll have to say about work.

For the last two months, I’ve been using a Tablet PC from Motion Computing. It’s in the slate format and fits into a nice planner that I carry around with me. Other than the “ohhhhs” and “ahhhs” that it produces when I yank it out at meetings and the like, it’s an incredible productivity machine and I continue to find new uses for it. It makes me highly dangerous. I just gotta get my routines altered so that I can make it do what I need it to do in my new role – it’s still setup for my last assignment.

My favorite ad from the Super Bowl (you did notice that the Patriots won.. right?) was the Budweiser ad with the airport crowd applauding the soldiers walking through the airport. I know, it was staged, but the feeling was heartfelt.. and that’s what counts.

I’ve been in Minneapolis without a car, and that’s not a big deal.. except when the power supply for your Apple Powerbook blows up on you.. and the closest Apple store is at the Mall of America… so off I went, via the new Light Rail. A very nice ride, 35 minutes, and quite a crowd at the Apple Store.. all getting.. iPod shuffles. Lucky dogs.

About to finish reading the book about Howard Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald’s post 9/11 experiences, next on deck is 102 Minutes, a story about survival during the attack on the World Trade Center.. in the midst of this, am now onto Heretics of Dune for pleasure reading. And who knows, maybe a few more books at home are calling my name too….

I’d write more, but I have 8 episodes of TV saved here on the Powerbook to watch. Have a great Friday and perhaps I’ll write more later.

Ossie Davis

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Ossie Davis died earlier this week at age 87. One of my favorite actors of all time, he was instantly recognizable by that voice that he had. And his uncanny ability to deliver a message, a eulogy, a line.. with that incredible voice.

Most memorable in my mind will probably be the ending of Spike Lee’s monumental film “X” where Ossie Davis delivered the eulogy. That’s one that I’ll remember for the rest of my days.

Eighty – Seven years – a great life. Rest in peace, Ossie.

We Are American, Not European

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The quote of the year:

“There cannot be an absence of moral content in American foreign policy. Europeans giggle at this, but we are not European, we are American, and we have different principles.”

– Secretary of State Condi Rice

The Second Inaugural Speech

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I am incredibly behind in reading newsfeeds and posted on my weblog, which explains why I am only now highlighting the Inauguration Speech of President George W. Bush.

From the standpoint of delivery, it was not a good speech. The President, for as much as I respect and admire the man, is not a good public speaker. I wish he could speak as Clinton did, or as Reagan did, but he can’t – and wishing for it isn’t going to make it happen.

But the content.. the content.. this is an inaugural speech that I will remember for the rest of my days:

We have seen our vulnerability – and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny – prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder – violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.

We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

America’s vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation’s security, and the calling of our time.

So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.

This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.

The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it.

[…]

We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.

[…]

From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well – a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.

A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause – in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy … the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments … the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives – and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.

All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself – and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.

America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home – the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.

I know there are those, particularly across the big pond, that do not like this speech. I know that there are those, here at home, who felt the speech had too many religious overtones. But if you understand the concepts of freedom and liberty, it’s hard to ignore the power of this speech.

Nicollet Mall Blogging

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Blogging from the Barnes and Nobles on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, enjoying a hot cup of Starbucks Joe.

When I arrived here about 30 minutes ago, there were only three of us here in the cafe. Now there isn’t a single empty chair, and there are many waiting in line. Apparantly it’s the happening place to be this morning.