Month: October 2019
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My Personal History: The War At Home – Requiem
When I originally wrote, “The War at Home,” I was in a strange place. It began as a way of putting my thoughts on paper. I had many conversations where these three themes kept coming up. As anyone who sits in a therapist’s office will tell you, writing down your thoughts always comes up as…
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Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ghost Soldiers: You’ll cancel your hibachi reservation after reading this. Quick synopsis: The story of the jailbreak for the survivors of the Bataan Death March. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: What did the U.S. Army do when their soldiers got tired in World War II? Amphetamines! (Club music begins) Fun…
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My Personal History: The War at Home
I’m a combat veteran and one of the things I did when I got home was try to put the feelings of coming home to paper. It was strange rereading it and seeing how much has changed and how much hasn’t since 2008 when I wrote it. I reprinted the article below and will give…
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Code Name: Lise by Larry Loftis
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Code Name: Lise: Want to be a spy? Not after reading this! Quick synopsis: Story of the Odette Sansom, the most decorated spy of WWII. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Sansom was caught and tortured by the Gestapo repeatedly. She didn’t give them a thing. Thank God she was a…
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Random Musing: Serial Killers
What’s this musing about: The cult of the serial killer. When I interviewed one of my favorite authors, Mike Dash, he said something really profound. He mentioned he does not like true crime books and shows because they often obsess about the killer at the expense of the victims. The victims usually end up being…
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American Predator by Maureen Callahan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Predator: Want to get away with murder? Don’t use the ATM card. Quick synopsis: The capture of (and botched interviews of) Israel Keyes. He was a very successful serial killer. And creepy as all hell. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Well not a fun fact but informative. Keyes got…
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Random Musing: On Drinking
What’s this musing about: Humans have been getting drunk for a really long time. I’m writing this on a Sunday after a lot of football and maybe more than one Sam Adams Octoberfests (buzzed writing is pretty sweet). As is my wont, I began thinking about a history nugget I had read recently. It mentioned…
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Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Destiny of the Republic: Sometimes you should just leave the bullet alone. Quick synopsis: The story of how President James Garfield came to power and then was assassinated. Also, how a bunch of doctors screwed up a lot. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Thomas Edison makes an appearance. Yeah, the…
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Rant: People Who Need to Read a Damn Book
What’s this about: Here are the following groups of people who drive me nuts and need to go read a damn book about the subject they claim to understand: People who compare things to how Nazi Germany started. This is never an apt comparison. Conversely, racists. You suck. People who say the electoral college is…