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Posts by David Grogan:

Tom in Iraq in 2005 with Maryland Flag

Commander Tom Jones, JAGC, U.S. Navy (Retired) – Serving at the Edge of Law and War

When people think of Navy lawyers, the image of courtrooms and court-martials comes to mind, conjured up from movies like The Caine Mutiny and A Few Good Men. Although those images are accurate as far as they go, they paint but a small part of the picture. No career illustrates that better than that of Commander Tom Jones, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Navy (Retired). Tom left the courtroom behind early in his career to serve with the Navy SEALs in Iraq, charting the course for all future Navy attorneys embedded with special operations units. Where others might see roadblocks, Tom saw opportunities. Throughout his distinguished twenty-year Navy career, he never avoided challenges – he embraced them. This is his story.

Cropped picture of the cover of the book Berlin Walls by Bill Rapp

Berlin Walls by Bill Rapp

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love spy novels. As far as I’m concerned, nothing tops spy novels exploring the cat and mouse games U.S., British, and Soviet agents played at the height of the Cold War. Throw in some legitimate history – another subject I love to read about – […]

Air Force pilot in C-130 cockpit

Major Sandy Richardson, U.S. Air Force (Retired) – From Dream to Reality, Flying with the Air Force for 20 Years

Some people dream and that is as far as it goes. Others follow through and take action, always keeping their eyes on the ultimate objective. Ever since Major Sandy Richardson, U.S. Air Force, was a boy with his father watching planes take off and land in Louisiana, he dreamed of becoming a pilot. Now he can look back at his fifty-year career of flying and training others to fly and say with pride, “I lived my dream.” This is his story.

Lieutenant Alfred Sokolowski in his Navy summer white uniform

LCDR Alfred Sokolowski, U.S. Navy – Dreadnoughts to Destroyers: A Two-Ocean Sailor in World War II

Lieutenant Commander Alfred “Ski” Sokolowski, U.S. Navy (Retired), has experienced much over the last ninety-nine years. He had a front row seat in World War II as his ships plowed the North Atlantic, protecting convoys from German submarines. He fought on a destroyer in the Pacific, helping recapture islands lost to Japan at the start of the war, and then joined the fight again just five years later in the Korean War sailing off the coast of North Korea. As if that wasn’t enough, he took on the dangerous job of explosive ordnance disposal and managed weapons logistics in the western Pacific. He didn’t just watch U.S. history from a distance—he lived it over the course of thirty years. This is his story.

Cropped Cover of The Other Side of the World by Dean Moss copy 2

The Other Side of the World By Dean Moss

I’ve had The Other Side of the World by Dean Moss on my reading list for quite some time and finally picked it up to give it a try. Now I wished I’d read it earlier because I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here’s why.Dean Moss served in the Air Force in Vietnam from May 1968 through […]

Joe Dwigans 2011-10-14 17.59.24 copy

LCDR Joe Dwigans, U.S. Navy – From an Iowa Dairy Farm to Flying Navy Helldivers

The naval aviator training pipeline is grueling. It takes months of study to learn the basics of flying. It takes strength of body and mind to withstand the physical and mental strains of landing a plane on the pitching deck of an aircraft carrier at sea. Most of all, it takes courage, to launch from a ship in the middle of the ocean in search of a target with the hope of accomplishing the mission and returning home safely. Few have what it takes to even try to meet naval aviation’s high standards and even fewer succeed. At the height of World War II, with the naval war against Japan raging in the Pacific, Lieutenant Commander Joe Dwigans, U.S. Navy (Retired), raised his hand and said I can do it. This is his story.

Book Cover of The Alchemist by Paulo Cuelho

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

From the very start of The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, I knew I was listening to one of the most meaningful, influential books I’ve experienced in my lifetime. I listened to it over the holidays while I was driving my daughter and her dog back to New Jersey and ever since then, I can’t stop […]

Soldier with grenade launcher in Vietnam

Sergeant Russell J. Wright, U.S. Army – Fighting with the Americal Division in Vietnam

Sometimes people are presented with options having life changing consequences. Such was the case with Sergeant Russell J. Wright, U.S. Army, when he received his draft notice in May of 1970. With the war in Vietnam winding down and protestors clamoring for draftees to flee to Canada, Russ could have evaded the draft and kept himself safe from a war that had already killed tens of thousands of Americans. Instead, he chose to do his duty and report for service because he knew it was the right thing to do. Now, looking back on his service in the jungles and rice paddies of South Vietnam over fifty years later, Russ is proud of his service and would do it all again. This is his story.

Partial image of the cover of the book Last Hope Island showing the title of the book

Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson

I was hesitant to commit to reading Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson when a neighbor recommended it, but finally decided to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did! The book discusses how England opened its doors to the exiled governments of Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, after their countries […]

E-7 1963 Midway

Master Chief Petty Officer Donald Gohman, U.S. Navy (Retired) – Keeping the Navy Flying During Three Wars

Master Chief Petty Officer Donald Gohman, U.S. Navy (Retired) is a humble man. When we began to talk, he told me his career was routine and he didn’t think he’d done anything special. Then he told me about how he helped keep planes flying from Henderson Field during the six-month long battle for Guadalcanal during World War II and kept carrier aircraft in fighting shape for missions over Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Needless to say, I was spellbound. Weaving in and out of peacetime and war, Don’s career is a thirty-year American history lesson taught at the individual level. I could not get enough of it, and I think you will share the same view. This is his story.

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