OISE-AISNE ABMC CEMETERY – AMERICAN SPIRIT AT THE SECOND MARNE

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Walking the cemetery with former Cemetery Superintendent Jeffrey Aarnio at Oise-Aisne ABMC.

People not acquainted well with the First World War might be surprised there was more than one Battle of the Marne. The first battle was by far the more famous, but the second proved to be as decisive, if not more, than the first. In this campaign, American units fought for lengthy periods of time in division sized units in a truly international campaign. The bulk of the effort was French, but there were British and Italian troops fighting alongside the Doughboys, throughout. The American efforts in the Second Marne are remembered in the ABMC – American Battlefields and Monuments Commission – Oise-Aisne Cemetery equidistant between the town of Fère-en-Tardenois to the west and Nesles to the east – about 1 kilometer either direction.

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ST MIHIEL ABMC CEMETERY – HISTORY RELIVES A HUNDRED YEARS ON

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St Mihiel Cemetery
Taken from the postwar Michelin Guide to the Battlefields is a early photo of the cemetery at St Mihiel.

World War One was not the first time American soldiers died and were left on foreign soil. The Great War did leave by far the largest number of dead Americans outside the native country, however. To establish and maintain cemeteries outside the United States to honor the sacrifices made by so many, the American Battlefield and Monuments Commission was set up in 1923 headed by no other than General John Pershing. There are 28 cemeteries falling under the guise of the ABMC today. Here is the ABMC St Mihiel Cemetery filled with soldiers many falling during the first offensive campaign fought by the US Army as a cohesive unit – St Mihiel.

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BAD KREUZNACH – REMEMBER AND RETURN TO THE NAHETAL

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Bad Kreuznach panorama Kauzenburg
This is a 2018 panorama over the city of Bad Kreuznach from the Kauzenburg. The Nahe Canyon leading to Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg is on the right.

Bad Kreuznach – Bad “K” or just “BK” to most former Americans living here – was and is a wonderful town to be introduced into culture beyond America. Who says you can’t go back?  I lived and worked here for three years back in the 1980’s, a time of strong US dollars and a last fling of Cold War uncertainty. 

Today’s blog is a simple chance to amble down through the mists of my time and a chance to update photographic memories of a part of Germany flying under the radar of the Viking longboat cruisers.

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LIONS VISION CLINIC IN ALBANIA

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ashraf 3 last clinic
Last morning of Lions Vision clinics at Ashraf 3, Albania.

Lionism is truly a worldwide phenomenon. My wife and I joined a 36-member Lions In Sight team – composed of 13 doctors and 23 others from all over the US and Canada – that worked at various vision clinics Albania seeing over 7,000 patients during the first week of November 2018.

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HINDU SANCTUARY IN THE TUALATIN MOUNTAINS FOCUS ON DIFFERENT PATHS TO THE SAME GOAL

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Sunlight filters through the trees along the Shrine Path high among the Tualatin Mountains.

“BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME”

“Build it and he will come”. So, intones the voice of Shoeless Jackson to the Iowa corn farmer played by Kevin Costner in the 1989 film Field of Dreams. The quote often remembered wrongly as “Build it and they will come”. The film was a version of W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Jackson. In this case, we will choose the more popular interpretation which better describes this Hindu sanctuary high in the Tualatin Mountains just north of Portland. A retreat pointing towards a universal message of different paths leading to the same goal.

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CELEBRATION OF LIFE ON TOP OF THE DRAGON’S MOUNTAIN

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Sunrise on top of the Amphitheatre at Royal Natal National Park – one part of the long rim of the Drakensberg.

Celebration of Life

Birthdays have a nasty habit of piling up. As a child, they are special, looked forward to. As an older adult, they are part of life. I don’t celebrate my birthday in a big way, as a rule. My wife might push for a dinner out or the like. The start of a new decade is different, however. You have made it through another ten years, a milepost! Something special should be done to usher in the new epoch – a true celebration of life, if you will.

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WEST POINT CLASSES IN THE GREAT WAR

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AEF Commander General John J. Pershing (class of 1886) and Army Chief of Staff General Peyton March (class of 1888)

West Point classes before the Great War was the main source of officers guiding the U.S. Army. The huge mobilization meant an equal increase in the officer corps which West Point could not begin to cover. But the officers with West Point in their background – much as was the case during the American Civil War – did account for most of the upper leadership positions within the Army and the AEF. Also, like the Civil War, there was a certain animosity between West Pointers and those without the pedigree in World War One, too. I, however, want to focus on the West Pointers here. This is a brief rundown of several who helped the American efforts during the Great War.

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EYE CARE IN THE SRI LANKAN TSUNAMI AFTERMATH – 2005

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This optometrist provided eye care to victims on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka, one of the areas most devastated by the tsunami.

Where there were houses along the shore, the tsunami left only debris behind.

The day after Christmas 2004 was a good morning to be a little early to church. While Mr. Rasanayagan puttered away in his home in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka, his wife had already left for the nearby Assembly of God church for 9 a.m. services.

The tsunami waves hit at 8:45 a.m.

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AMERICA REMEMBERED ON ISLAY, TORPEDOED VICTIMS OF THE GREAT WAR

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America standing high on the cliffs of Islay.

The Setting

High above the cold, wind-driven waves of the Irish Sea, sitting atop rocky vertical cliffs on a southern peninsula with the odd name of the Mull of Oa on the Scottish island of Islay, a forgotten stone monument fashioned in the shape of a lighthouse. The American Red Cross erected the monument in 1920 to honor the memory of those who died in two separate troopship sinkings – the Tuscania and the Otranto – off the coast of Islay. Designed by a Glasgow architect as a monumental cairn recognizing the importance of those dead in the cold waters off Islay. Most who see the monument see a lighthouse peering into the dark and icy seas. America intertwined with Islay.

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THE WORLD GETS SMALLER WITH 360 CAMERAS AND DRONES

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Recent advances with the advent of 360 cameras, smartphones and drones with superb photographic and video capabilities are making it much easier to tell your story or create your epic film in more unique ways.

Enter into 360° Photography

I have been using a 360 camera for a little more than a year now. The results are pretty cool even considering the optical disparities involved with a fisheye lens – or double fisheye lens in the case of a 360 picture.

Note: for the 360 photos, to take full advantage, click and drag your mouse to see the whole picture. This one shows two old squash players atop the magnificent Rotenfels high above the Nahe River in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany near Bad Kreuznach.

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