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Looking back at 2007

by Bryan Strawser · Dec 31, 2007

The end of the year brings us the changing of the calendar from one year to the next. Another year older, another step or two in our lives, a few friends lost, new friends gained.. perhaps some accomplishments behind us – and our dreams ahead.

The new year has always been a time of great reflection for me – an occasion of sorts where I look back upon what has been wrought in my life and make a belated attempted to make sense of what has transpired – be it good or bad.

As I’ve said before, some things this year I have handled poorly – some with grace – but always with an eye on being a better person than I was the year before.

This year has been a tough one for the President of the United States, George W. Bush. Hampered by a Democratic Congress intent to block or take credit for anything positive – the President was able to sell a surge strategy that appears to be working with US troop deaths down for the last seven consecutive months. The level of commitment required from our civilian and military leadership was apparent, however, when General David Patraeus stated that “We’re not doubling down here. We’re all in.”.

We also witnessed the real beginnings of Presidential politics, if one could call it that, this year with the official launch of the 2008 Presidential campaigns. As I write this, the Iowa caucuses are just a few days away… and that means that the primaries aren’t far away either. For the first time that I can remember, both races for the nomination are wide open. But I’m already sick of the campaign season – and still haven’t selected a candidate that I feel is worthy of my support.

Much can happen between now and November, however. It will at least be interesting – if we don’t tune out. Both of which are possible.

In April, I “competed” in my first bicycling event, along with two co-workers. We did the 30 mile course of the Minnesota Ironman in what I thought was a reasonable period of time. It was my first time riding in a Peloton with a few hundred of my closest friends. I’m looking forward to the race next year…

As many of you know, I love to read. The best book I read in 2007 was Walter Isaacson’s biography of Albert Einstein. While I have studied Einstein’s theories in high school and college, I was not aware of all of the struggles of his life and the backstory of how he came to the United States. The most important lesson I learned from Einstein’s book is that one cannot attempt to solve the problems confronting them if they choose to be bound by the constraints that are in place at that time. Einstein’s development of the theories of relativity came about in part because he refused to follow what were the accepted practices in physics at that time.

September brought about the sixth anniversary of September 11th – even six years on a painful day for many to remember. I referenced back to what I had written three years ago:

In the end, I think we all have the responsibility to remember what happened that day – to us – to our fellow man – here in our own country.

A few weeks ago, while having coffee with a peer in Minneapolis, our conversation steered towards the impact of September 11th on our lives – both personally and professionally.

She pulled out her PDA – tapped on it a few times – and spun it around so that I could read it.

It was her calendar – turned to September 11th, 2004 – and it showed just one word:

Remember

October brings us the fall classic. Once again, my team did not let us down – coming from behind in the American League Championship Series to sweep the Colorado Rockies in the World Series.

It’s nice to be able to enjoy the successes of a team that has broken my heart so many times in years past.

All of this comes with being a member of Red Sox Nation.

As we age, we lose friends and family members – some from our small nuclear or extended families – and others from the larger community in which we live.

David Halberstam died back in April of this year. A Pulitzer prize winning biographer & author, Halberstam died in a car accident while working to research an upcoming book. His final book, The Coldest Winter – a look at the Korean War, was published just a few months ago. I’ll miss the books that he never had a chance to write.

November brought us the death at age 92 of Brigidier General Paul W. Tibbetts. The New York Times tells the story:

In the hours before dawn on Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay lifted off from the island of Tinian carrying a uranium atomic bomb assembled under extraordinary secrecy in the vast endeavor known as the Manhattan Project.

Six and a half hours later, under clear skies, then-Colonel Tibbetts, of the Army Air Forces, guided the four-engine plane he had named in honor of his mother toward the bomb’s aiming point, the T-shaped Aioi Bridge in the center of Hiroshima, the site of an important Japanese Army headquarters.

At 8:15 a.m. local time, the bomb known to its creators as Little Boy dropped free at an altitude of 31,000 feet. Forty-three seconds later, at 1,890 feet above ground zero, it exploded in a nuclear inferno that left tens of thousands dead and dying and turned much of Hiroshima, a city of some 250,000 at the time, into a scorched ruin.

Colonel Tibbetts always believed that he had done the right thing – saying later in life that “I have been convinced that we saved more lives than we took. It would have been morally wrong if we’d have had that weapon and not used it and let a million more people die.”.

And a few weeks ago, we learned of the death of Dan Fogelberg, a soft-rock artist that I remember well from my youth. Fogelberg died at home after a long fight with prostrate cancer. His song, Leader of the Band, is one that has resonated with me over the years:

My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man
Im just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.

I’ve much to be thankful for as the year comes to an end. Friends. Family. Work. Fun. Games. I continue to be awed at the courage of men and women in a variety of roles around the world.. and I continue to be inspired by my fellow bloggers. On this, the last day of the year, Lex reminds us about General George Washington, and why we are fortunate that men like him walked this earth.

As far as this blog goes, 2007 brought about my return to the world of personal blogging after almost a year and a half of silence with this post on Memorial Day remembering those that had given their all so that we might live in freedom. And perhaps, at the end of the year, their sacrifice is the one lesson that we should always remember. Some, of course, can’t seem to grasp what that lesson is.

I hope that you and yours have a safe & happy new years. I’m looking forward to the challenges & laughs that 2008 will bring to each of us.

Previous editions: 2004, 2005, sadly, I was on blog hiatus in 2006.

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured

20 Years Ago

by Bryan Strawser · Jan 28, 2006

Twenty years ago today, I was an eleven year old sixth grader at Covington Middle School in my hometown of Covington, Indiana. I remember that Mrs. Woodrow was my teacher for the english class I was in.. and we were working on an assignment, or a reading, or something similar to that.

51-L-Patch

My neighbor, the principal’s secretary walked in and whispered something to Mrs. Woodrow. The students, of course, were all watching intently as this is not something that happened very often. She then left.

Then our teacher informed us that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded after take-off in Florida, killing all of the astronauts aboard.

Sts51L(S)157

I don’t remember how I felt or even what happened for the rest of that class. I do remember a few hours later going to the library where most of the staff was gathered around the one television in the school watching the news coverage, most with tears in their eyes.

I was always interested in the space program. As a teenager, I thought I might study aeronautical engineering and perhaps attend the Naval Academy, but life had other plans for me. A visit by my family to the Kennedy Space Center a few years later reminded me of that dream, but I had already begun thinking of another course to take.

S86-38989It wasn’t until years later that I was old enough to understand President Reagan’s words that evening after the Challenger had been destroyed – and now, twenty years later, they endure as a fitting tribute to those seven brave souls.

“There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.” Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”‘

Technorati Tags: shuttle

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured

Can we win? Can we lose?

by Bryan Strawser · Jul 13, 2005

A couple serious thinkers, such as Lex, have asked lately the two burning questions all of us should be faced with right now:

Can we win?

Or.. Can we lose?

And the answer to both of these questions is yes.

I’m the son of a Vietnam veteran, the grandson of two World War II veterans. Both of these experiences weigh heavily in my own thoughts and feelings about the conflict that we find ourselves in today.

World War II was undeniably the good fight – where right triumphed, with great sacrifice, over wrong. Millions died, not a few of them Americans and our allies. Great sacrifices were made on many fronts. All that we had as a nation was poured into that war.

Vietnam was another story. Our nation was sorely divided over our role in the conflict between North and South Vietnam – and the aftermath on our nation and on our military took years to recover.

The shadow of Vietnam looks over everything that we do today.

I firmly believe that regardless of the current situation that we have done the right things as a nation since 9/11. Going after the first sanctuary of terrorism in Afghanistan was the right thing to do – and confronting Iraq and taking military action such as we have done was also the right thing to do.

I believe this because I believe that our nation’s outlook on what it would take to defend our people, our territory, and our interests changed significantly – we could no longer take the risk that a nation like Iraq could possess weapons of mass destruction – so we took that government out.

But even more importantly, these actions combined, over the long term, will change the long term outlook of this region – the power structure of what makes up the Middle East will change and change in huge ways in years to come… if we are successful in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In these areas, I believe we are on the path to victory.. we can win.. but it is not going to be easy.

And this is where I think we can lose.

I think that since Vietnam, we’ve lacked a certain sense of will and determination overall. It was obvious during World War II that it was there.. Korea a bit less so, Vietnam clearly not so overtime. Even during Operation Desert Storm you saw the warnings about massive casualties and major defeat for our forces…

I fear that we’re in for a long multi-year struggle that will take place on many fronts – economically, politically, and militarily – it will happen on distant battlefields, on the high seas, on airplanes and airports, in shopping malls and subway trains, but most importantly around our own dinner tables. As we saw in London, the terrorists are going to bring this battle into our backyards – it’s only a matter of time before we see suicide bombings here in the United States.. and that’s a day as a professional that I dread…

But the most important conversations are those that will happen around our dinner tables, around the grill in the backyard with the neighbors, and in our own living rooms – it’s about being prepared for the battle ahead – and the long road it will take to be safe and secure in our nation and around the world.

It’s not going to happen overnight – it’s not going to be easy – but we have no choice but to engage the world and those trouble spots in this conflict. That’s where the left is dead wrong – and where I fear if we listen to their arguments – and travel down their path – that we’ll lose.

And that cost will be too high for us to bear.

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured, Terrorism

What could be…

by Bryan Strawser · Jun 9, 2005

One of my favorite authors is Richard Bach. A run through of my blogging over the last four years will point you to many quotes from his works over the years. There’s probably been no other author that was more influential in my most contemplative years as a teenager as this man.

Bach wrote across two books of his belief, so to speak, in alternate worlds. I believe it was in “One” that he wrote of how everytime we reach a major decision in life.. our world splits in two.. The reality.. and the alternate…

In one world, we move on.. with the decision that we made, the choice locked, and the reality is…. well the reality of what we face.

In the other world, the alternate, the opposite is true.. and thus the world splits off and becomes…. the alternate… it goes on without you, so to speak…

And then, in our dreams, or our nightmares, and at other times, we get a glimpse of what could have been – but yet will never be.

Or could it…

Filed Under: Books, Deep Thoughts, Featured

In Memory

by Bryan Strawser · May 30, 2005

It is not that these men are dead, but that they have so died…that they offered themselves willingly to death in a cause vital and dear to humanity; and what is more, a cause they comprehended as such, and looking at it, in all its bearings and its consequences, solemnly pledged to it all that they had and were…. This comprehension of the cause, his intelligent devotion, this deliberate dedication of themselves to duty, these deaths suffered in testimony of their loyalty, faith and love, make these men worthy of honor today, and these deaths equal to the lauded deaths of martyrs. Not merely that the cause was worthy but that they were worthy…. God grant to us that lesson of devotion and loyalty be not lost….

They gave their best for something held dearer than joy, something of good beyond their personal experience; the giving of which, in this world’s estimation, is of such cost that it cannot be justified by your understanding but only in your overpassing faith.

We do not live for self…. We are a part of a larger life, reaching before and after, judged not by deeds done in the body but deeds done in the soul. We wish to be remembered. Willing to die, we are not willing to be forgotten.

– Major General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 20th Maine, Memorial Day 1884, Brunswick, Maine

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured

Was it not as in the old days?

by Bryan Strawser · Mar 28, 2005

I just finished re-watching Ken Burn’s incredible series The Civil War – only appropriate since I’m slogging my way through Shelby Foote’s deep series on the war as well.

This quote, read by Shelby Foote at the end of The Civil War, is a fitting end:

“In time, even death itself might be abolished; who knows but it may be given to us after this life to meet again in the old quarters, to play chess and draughts, to get up soon to answer the morning role call, to fall in at the tap of the drum for drill and dress parade, and again to hastily don our war gear while the monotonous patter of the long roll summons to battle.

Who knows but again the old flags, ragged and torn, snapping in the wind, may face each other and flutter, pursuing and pursued, while the cries of victory fill a summer day? And after the battle, then the slain and wounded will arise, and all will meet together under the two flags, all sound and well, and there will be talking and laughter and cheers, and all will say, Did it not seem real? Was it not as in the old days?”

— Sergeant Berry Benson, Army of Northern Virginia, 1880

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured, Military

Remember

by Bryan Strawser · Sep 11, 2004

September 11th has impacted me significantly personally, politically, and professionally. Certainly its impacted me more than I expected it to when I sat that morning in front of a television and watched the world suddenly shift about me —

Personally, 9/11 was a gut-wrenching emotional experience for me. I was driving in Connecticut on my way to visit a store that morning when a peer called to tell me about what had happened. The second plane had just hit, you see. I spent that morning in South Windsor, Connecticut with my team watching as the day unfolded. I remember, that morning, being almost completely in shock.

The emotions came to me on the ride home – alone – listening to the radio. And then more that night on the couch, watching the news until 2 or 3 in the morning.

There are a few memories and images from that time that have always stayed with me —

When I recovered from my shock that morning – it was the realization that hundreds of police, fire, and EMS personnel had gone into those buildings – risked their lives – and as we discovered later that day – many had given their lives to save others.

The second is what happened to me the next morning at work. I was in the my office around 6:30am to meet someone for a long drive and spend the day visiting stores together.

Shortly after I arrived at the office, I heard a loud roar overhead.

“Oh, just an airplane flying by…”, I thought.

Then it hit me – nothing was supposed to be flying. I ran outside and looked up.

It was a flight of Air Force fighters in a formation of five – flying out towards Cape Cod to take up a Combat Air Patrol. Something I’d never seen before outside of an airshow…

Emotionally, 9/11 affected me – like others – greatly. I was fortunate in that I did not lose any friends or family members that day. But I cried many times during the following days – sometimes out of a sense of loss – sometimes in awe of the heroism displayed that morning – sometimes just because I love my country.

I would tear up just driving down the road in the weeks following 9/11 when I would see an American Flag hanging over an overpass – or when I’d hear a sound bite on the radio of Mayor Giuliani, President Bush, or others speaking about 9/11. And, to this day, the video of the Star Spangled Banner being played at Buckingham Palace in London reduces me to a blathering idiot.

Professionally, 9/11 has had a huge impact on how my job is viewed – and what I worry about each day. I’ll always focus on the traditional aspects of retail loss prevention – theft and fraud – but now I’m highly concerned with how we prepare and posture ourselves to better respond to a crisis – how we prevent major incidents – how we coordinate with public safety officials – and on and on —

What I worry about today at work is night and day from what I worried about when I started in this field eleven years ago…

Two photos from that time have always stuck with me..

The first is the widely publicized photograph of President Bush comforting Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki during his visit to New York City a few days after 9/11.

bushpatakigiuliani

The second is a photo (and story) that I first saw months after 9/11 in Dennis Smith’s book Report from Ground Zero.

It’s a photo of Lt. Ray Murphy of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). He was walking away from the cameraman following the collapse of the first WTC Tower. He had just recovered from that tower collapse and was headed into the still standing WTC tower in order to help others.

curatolo_murphy_at_wtc

He was killed in the collapse of that tower.

This picture has always reminded me of both heroism and sacrifice given freely by the men and women of the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD, and others that day —

In the end, I think we all have the responsibility to remember what happened that day – to us – to our fellow man – here in our own country.

A few weeks ago, while having coffee with a peer in Minneapolis, our conversation steered towards the impact of September 11th on our lives – both personally and professionally.

She pulled out her PDA – tapped on it a few times – and spun it around so that I could read it.

It was her calendar – turned to September 11th, 2004 – and it showed just one word:

Remember

Filed Under: Deep Thoughts, Featured, Terrorism

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