The Fifth Estate extends from the blogosphere to the community and the ways participants hold the powers accountable. The Fourth Estate, the media, held some of that responsibility, but communications is now more in the hands of the people.

http://open.salon.com/blog/onebyland

The Bucks Underground Railroad

January 30, 2012

For the past decade the Lunar globe that’s rested on the file cabinet in my office may finally gain its rightful place in Our Universe.  Thank you Newt Gingrich for your prophetic announcement that by the end of your “…second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.”  Even more prophetic was your pronouncement that the moon would become “… our 51^st state.”

Great!  I submit for your consideration these Lunar-related names for our 51^st State:  Moonia?  Moonorado?  Moonizonia?  Moonalvania?  Outer Lunar?  Moonida?  Loony?

OK, ‘nuff said.

In the mid 1960’s I lived in Fairfield, California.  At that time when I arrived as a new bride to First Husband Joe–serving in uniform at Travis Air Force Base–Fairfield was a sleepy community sandwiched between San Francisco and Sacramento.  Just loved it out there! California had always been on my bucket list.

Some time after arriving in California I accepted a position with Explosive Technology in its Technical Publications Department (we referred to it as “ET” in our proposals and marketing publications).  ET, sited on the grounds of a dismantled Nike missile base just outside Fairfield, developed its products for the space and defense industries.   A subsidiary of Ducommun, to this day I cannot find any website reference for “Explosive Technology”.  Too bad because ET’s contributions are lost in America’s Right Stuff  history of R&D technology in defense programs and space exploration.

WAY before that dirty word “outsourcing” became part of our vocabulary–ET’s Engineering, QA, and Manufacturing departments produced successful R&D programs that contributed to America’s status as a pioneer in Space.   ET’s separation assemblies pushed our Saturn rockets into space.  ET’s ejection seats saved pilots from burning fighter jets.  Another product ET developed which I don’t believe is now in use was the “Jet Axe”.  The device—packaged in a box about the size of a case of soda or beer—when attached to the roof of a burning structure allowed firefighters to blow a hole in the roof so they could swiftly enter into the building.

Those of you who’ve been around long enough remember the Apollo Space Program when we sat on the edge of our couches glued to our television sets watching the first two American Astronauts on their moon landing.  You probably wondered, How the Eff they gonna get off there?   ET’s brilliant engineers designed a separation assembly in the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM).  With the flick of a switch one of the Lunar landing astronauts fired an explosive guillotine cutter that severed the wires from the spidery LEM.  The capsule blasted off from the moon’s surface to rendezvous with the mother ship circling high above them.

An ET co-worker and friend of mine always joked that we would forever be known as the company that trashed the moon.  Got me thinking that maybe Newt should send the first shuttle to the rocky globe filled with “Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods…” who “…have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works.”   Geez…They could clean up all that abandoned space junk.

Newt’s ”idea” for child labor is just one more statement he’s uttered to vilify minorities, be they Poor and Black, or Brown, or Red or Yellow.

Newt–you’ve talked yourself off the island.  See you on the dark side of the moon.

The Bucks Underground Railroad

January 27, 2012

A friend of mine has become a Disappeared Constituent.  Even before the 2008 Presidential campaign, she brought a bright, creative and aggressive activism to the Progressive groups she was involved with.  Then several months ago she became dissatisfied, frustrated, and disappointed.  She opted out of everything political including not voting in the last two elections.

She’s not alone.  There are 99% of American voters who are Pissed Off—either at the President, or their political party, or the lazy electorate, or inflexible federal legislators, or Big Money PACs, or the constant return to office of candidates whose interests are not for the Good of the People.  Having battled in the political trenches since 1982, there were times when my candidates won and times when they lost.  The losses always brought about a deep blue funk often difficult to overcome.  But I refused to go away and Disappear.

It was worth hanging in there all those years to witness the millions of voters who made Barack Hussein Obama the 44^th President of the United States.  Were you there in Washington during Inauguration weekend?  It was the ultimate natural high to mingle among the crowds of people gathered across and throughout the Mall.  To exchange conversations with strangers, or see, hear, and feel the positive energy celebrated about this historic victory goes back to that phrase…You had to be there!

Thousands of Americans for the first time in their lives, dove into the political trenches.  Before two years were over a great many of those fresh new activists became Disappointed and Disappeared from the landscape.  You’ve heard it before so here it is again:  Obama walked into a destructive mess worse than an F5 tornado.  His agenda was roadblocked by a legislative body that turned Hope for America into hatred for him.  If you visit the Obama for President website, the list of accomplishments show Change has begun.  Instant gratification never applied to politics.

Last week I finished “True Compass’, the autobiography by the late Senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy.  When he came to Washington in 1962 he witnessed and was part of historical changes including the Environment, International Affairs, Health Care, Education, Civil Rights and Workers’ Benefits.  To get a grasp of the Institution he had become a part of, during his early months in office he devoted hours researching past narratives published by the Founding Fathers.   To his colleagues he was always respectful and open to compromise–two lessons that are lacking in the current slate of legislative newbie’s.  Their behavior speaks volumes about their disrespect of our nation’s legacy and their lack of civility toward the office of the Presidency.

‘Perseverance’, the last chapter of Kennedy’s memoir dwells on his battle with cancer and how throughout his career in the Senate he struggled through personal mishaps and family tragedies while waging legislative policies to improve the lives of Americans.  His message is an inspiration for all our Disappeared Constituents:  You don’t give up.

The Bucks Underground Railroad

January 14, 2012

The Republican Presidential primary campaign season has just begun and the last few wanna-be’s are confirming President Obama’s response about his preference for an opponent.  The President said he perferred to wait and see who will be standing after all the other candidates are “… voted off the island”.

In the meantime you and me gasp in embarrassment as we witness a group of shallow-brained Republican candidates insist they can lead America to a better future.  Their message is filtered through homophobic pronouncements, racist statements, exclusive economics, and religious piety.  It has caused laughter from people across all nations hundreds of years older than us–infants in comparison to the rest of the civilized World around the plantet.

This season of campaigning often described by media pundits as a “reality show” has caused many Americans to shut down, throw their hands up and in a deafening cacophony of wails, shout their disinterest and vow not to vote on November 6.  Voters are disappointed.

Somehow Pennsylvania’s Disappointed wrongfully morphed  into 65% of registered voters who  Disappeared in November 2011 leaving an average of 35% of registered voters to choose the new Rulers.  That disappointment margin has created a Republican party controlling government in Pennsylvania:  The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches of our Commonwealth…They Now Rule. 

In Bucks County it returned an administration and a lot of Row Office holders consumed with ancient ideas that continue to produce a moldy, stagnant direction to lead.

The Disappeared also came true in the November 2011 elections in Bucks.  We were offered a genuine opportunity to change the direction of County government.  It was a chance to replace smarmy incompetency with dedicated leadership.  I know of what I speak:  As a former 20-year employee at the County, many times my head shook in disgust witnessing the lack of inclusive governance.  In my October 29, 2010 post, Now is the Time To Get In The Way, I wrote, “…they remind me of someone who’s been employed at the same place… who shows up for work every day; and with clipboard securely tucked under arm, struts throughout the building with a superior attitude, appearing to be irreplaceable, but in truth, not completing one iota of work for the betterment of the company.”

During the 2011 elections many voters were unaware that the 2012 incoming legislators going to Harrisburg were given the power to recommend a change of  legislative lines that will determine where you and I vote for candidates running at the State and Federal levels.  In many cases these lines give us a narrow voting choice and favor the majority legislative party at the state and federal level of representation.  In many cases these lines have divided your neighborhood and/or community.   So few know the power of this process which you can read in my April 11, 2011 post, Redistricting is the thief taking away my country.

35% of Pennsylvanians voted into office a governor whose support came heavily from the gas and oil industry.  This allegiance from Them to Him will forever change our Commonwealth –

Where trees will be replaced by ugly drilling towers.

Where polluted water, running unseen in acquifers underground across local-county-state boundaries, may pop up in wells or rivers or streams to cause irrreversible damage to humans, plants and animals.

Where narrow macadam roads, buckling from the recurring load of trucks transporting ditritus matter of all kinds will require the replacement of those roads.  Replacements where money is not available from local governments.

Where the air becomes so foul it permeates the bodies of resident and worker alike creating severe illnesses—many undiagnosed because the gas and oil drilling industry has no regulatory responsibility to inform you and me of the chemicals used to frack for gas from underneath Pennsylvania land.

Where proposed legislation allowing Corporations to use Eminent Domain may negate any and all local zoning rules in order to frack for gas on your land or your neighbor’s land. 

Oh yeah—I’m Disappointed.  But I refuse to Disappear.  Next Post–it’s all about the Nation.  Don’t be a Disappeared Voter who has become Disappointed.

The Bucks Underground Railroad

November 3, 2011

Two days after Doylestown’s successful and peaceful October 13 Occupy event, a handwritten note was stuck in our mailbox.  My sister caught only the back of a young man dressed in black, as he scurried up our steps onto the sidewalk, before fleeing across the street and disappearing up the block.  It seems my “TAX Millionaires” sign caused him such a fit of rage he chose to scribble a reactionary rightist message on a piece of paper–which is included below for your reading pleasure:

You are taking a lead from the most Divisive President in U.S. history… your meshia (stet) Obama! “Tax the Millionaires”

The top 1% of US taxpayers pay 20% of Fed Taxes

 ”               5%             ”        ”              40%                    ”

 ”               10%           ”      ”               70%                    “

The bottom 50% pay no Federal Taxes!

We guess you are in that bottom part.   A typical Loser “Taken Class” Liberal democrat who only knows class envy.

Whoa!

The statistics jotted on that note have always in the past been uttered time and again, by conservative columnists, writers, and newsreaders on Faux News.  John Fund, conservative published author and commentator repeated those exact stats on HBO’s Bill Maher’s October 14, 2011 show, during a lively discussion about ‘Occupy Wall Street’.

When extremely wealthy individuals can depart this earth and their families receive their inheritances tax-free, something is wrong.  This came to the media’s attention when Congress allowed a loophole in the federal estate tax to expire at the end of 2010.  In that year of 2010 New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Texas pipeline tycoon Dan Duncan died and as fortune would have it their families gobbled up the inherited millions without having to pay any federal taxes.

Even though the federal estate tax was renewed January 1, 2011, individuals will pay taxes only if their taxable estate is more than $5 million.  Still seems like part of the 1% to me.

Young Guy dressed in black failed to realize the “TAX Millionaires” sign was first planted in our front garden in August after Washington DC legislators refused to consider raising taxes on the 1% wealthy Americans who live large while the 99% rest of us hold up this Nation.  One final thought for Young Guy dressed in black:  I’m retired, receive Social Security and a small pension, both of which I paid into and are now subject to tax deductions.  Stop with your reactionary ka-ka.

Disregarding the 1% Millionaires who don’t pay taxes, Occupy Wall Street is also messaging the masses about bankers and investors whose pens robbed Americans of their pensions, savings, and houses.  If these overpaid Wall Street bean counters were gripping a gun in their hand instead of wrapping their fingers around a pen, they’d be locked up in a Federal prison.  Pitiful.  Just.  Pitiful.

Next time my thoughts about Infrastructure.

 October 15, 2011

 As an activist friend once commented,“If you sit on a bed of nails long enough, you’ll get up ’cause your butt is really hurtin’.”

The “Occupy …” movements that have sprung up throughout America and around the Globe are a welcome comeuppance for us who’ve never lost Hope that Change is Real.

On Thursday October 13, nearly 200 people of all ethnicities, ages, backgrounds and causes gathered at Main and State Streets in Doylestown Borough, the County Seat of Bucks County to voice their dissatisfaction with an unyielding Congress, wars with no end in sight, the abandoment of workers by American corporations, home foreclosures, the failure of American financial institutions to invest in this country, the bailout of Wall Street, a dangerous disregard for public sector employees, and the threat to Americans’ Right to Vote.

Doylestown was one of many Pennsylvania communities, large and small, to reiterate that the Middle Class represents the values, strength, and heritage of the Nation.  By the time this past weekend ended citizens of all persuasions from Allentown to Bethlehem, along with Lehigh Valley, Erie, Harrisburg, Indiana County, Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton, State College, Stroudsburg, Williamsport, and York filled the streets with a message to Washington DC:  We are the 99% of America that is America.  As this movement grows, expect additional Pennsylvania communities and others across the country to become part of this powerful movement that says, Silence is not an option  The 99% of America that is America has leaped off the bed of nails and are here to shout:  ”We are the real Voices of America.”

Mainstream media’s editorial decision to initially describe these national gatherings as “… a bunch of no-nothings without a message” was shameful journalism.  Our local newspaper, often  dismissed by many readers as a weak pillar of the Fourth Estate, was forced to acknowledge in its coverage of  Doylestown’s Occupation to be worthy of its Front Page.  Its publication also included not one but two photos must have surely produced shingles on the skins of the local ‘Pea Tarty’ extremists.

If you’re still sitting on that bed of nails, now’s the time to get off and in the words of the Bucks Underground Railroad Freedom Jockey,  ”Speak up, show up and get in the way” (http://www.oneifbylandbuckscounty.com/blog/?p=84).

The Bucks Underground Railroad

The Bucks Underground Railroad

October 10, 2011   Last night I attended a neighborhood event that announced the creation of a labyrinth to be placed near the Michener Museum in Doylestown.  About a hundred people were there to learn about the project.  A temporary labyrinth was created on the proposed site using tiny clear lights that formed the circled path that guides people to the center and then back out to the entrance.  After all my experiences over the past two and a half months, walking that labyrinth helped transform me back to The Bucks Underground Railroad.

My blog took its unscheduled respite in mid July.  It was around that time when my 77 year-old brother Jimmy was hospitalized for emergency surgery.  It brought a permanent life change for him and a realization to me and my siblings that our big brother Jimmy, who we always looked up to as “all that”, was no longer that lover of jazz, creator of iconoclastic modern art work, amateur photographer, and sophisticated lover to dozens of women.  He’s slipped into short term memory loss as well as a deterioration in his physical health.

My sister and I became the siblings to handle this change in Jimmy’s life.  Being the closest to his home in New Jersey, it became our responsibility to admit him to a care facility, clean out his apartment, initiate legal documents, travel back and forth to his New Jersey care facility, speak and meet with his health caregivers, and monitor his personal finances.  It became an all-consuming part of our every day lives, but he’s now settled in a long term care nursing facility close to our home.  Most days during that time I mused over how to write about this.

I now realize living wills and a power of attorney are important documents to put in place before a medical emergency arises.

Medicare and Medicaid:  health insurance benefits that should never be taken away from any of us.

The social workers who helped us through paperwork were Goddesses.

From the nurses, to the aides, to those in housekeeping, therapy, activities or administrative personnel—they perform thankless jobs all of us take for granted until we or a relative come face to face with the reality of a life-changing illness.   Five Stars to all of them.

The Bucks Underground Railroad

July 12, 2011

On Thursday June 23 I attended an Authors and Historians Meeting in Washington, DC at the Library of Congress.  The day’s event brought together individuals who write and research subjects related to veterans, the military or wars.  The agenda was to announce the scope of the 50^th Commemoration of the Vietnam War. (www.vietnamwar50th.com).

Back in January of this year the Department of Defense announced the 50^th Commemoration of the Vietnam War.   A partial list of goals for the Program include thanking veterans, honoring families of service members, recognizing POWs/MIAs, paying tribute for contributions on the home front, highlighting the contributions and sacrifices by allies, and acknowledging research advances from technology, science and medicine.

In his opening remarks Gordon Peterson, the Military Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) set the tone that defined the purpose of the Commemoration:  “If it’s not set down it’s forgotten.”  Peterson, a retired Captain in the U.S. Navy recounted a 1972 Navy SEAL mission known as “Operation Thunderhead” planned for rescuing two POWs from the Hanoi Hilton.  Through diligent research and interviews, Peterson and another retired Navy officer, Captain Michael G. Slattery were able to discover the circumstances surrounding the death of Lt. Melvin Spence Dry (Spence Dry:  A Seal’s Story © 2005).  Their results were published in 2005 and the narrative can be found in the U.S. Naval Institute’s archives (http://www.usni.org/about/spence-dry-award).

Three representatives from the National Archives described how modern technology has improved accessing information from their sites.  They’ve come a long way from 1986 when I visited a building on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC searching through boxes of records, photographs, maps and documents from the Vietnam War.  Those boxes were the first phase of cataloguing that war.

Are you a Veteran seeking information about your military service?  Or did an ancestor serve in a previous war and you’re interested in learning more about him or her?  The National Archives is an excellent first stop.  Besides Washington DC, two other Archive sites located in Maryland—Suitland and College Park—house military records.

The Library of Congress described their Veterans History Project.  The Project’s purpose is to honor “…veterans by preserving stories of their service to our country.”  They hope there are people who will interview families or veterans who served in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Their “Field Kit” is a Step by Step guide toward completing the interviews of a veteran’s tour of duty.

The Veterans Writing Project (http://veteranswriting.org/) was founded because they “…believe every veteran has a story to tell”….and may “… need help doing so.”  Ron Capps served first in Afghanistan and then as a Foreign Service Officer in Iraq.  He described how the non-profit organization was established to mentor veterans and their family members with help as they struggle through writing poetry, plays, screenplays, fiction, or non-fiction.  Their Facebook Wall (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Veterans-Writing-Project/153719251350655) is filled with messages and photos from supporters.

Other presenters included Dr. Hugo A. Keesing whose collection of Vietnam music–Next Stop is Vietnam–contains over 4,000 selections; John DeLuca, Operations, Navy Office of Communications who reviewed the itinerary for a Commemoration scheduled for the War of 1812; and Col. David J. Clark USA, Korea 60^th Commemoration.  Copies of the cd Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam were handed out to attendees.  The cd  describes graffiti found in 1997 on the General M. Nelson troopship.  The graffiti was written by troops during their voyage toVietnam.

No matter what your feelings or beliefs may be about war, the 50^th Commemoration Program is an ambitious endeavor.  Within my own family, when I list my ancestors who served in uniform—the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, World War I and World War II—I’ll never know their stories.  My cousin Steven, a combat Marine inVietnam returned home to live with demons he never shared with any of us.  He carried them to his grave.

What about your service?  Will it become one for all of us to read?

The Bucks Underground Railroad

June 13, 2011

My November 19, 2010 post about the spirit that hovered in my daughter’s bedroom http://www.oneifbylandbuckscounty.com/blog/?p=258  has reached closure.  On Sunday May 30 my children and grandchildren, along with my sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews gathered in Doylestown to observe the placement of a marker on Priscilla Newman’s grave.  It was last July when the results of researching our ancestors brought the discovery that the woman my father saw lying in a casket when he was an innocent six-year old boy, turned out to also be the spirit that made those nightly visitations to my daughter in the late 1970s.

When my daughter told me that there was  “… someone…” in her bedroom, I never doubted her.  I’ve always believed there are spirits that continue to roam the earth after their death.  Spirits, for whatever reasons—lost or angry or restless or lonely–remain caught in that other world that lies between living and nonexistence.

Here in Doylestown there are “haunting” incidents that have occurred in some well-known landmarks.  Workers in a 19^th century Victorian were visited by a spirit while remodeling some of the rooms.  Its appearance chased them out of the building.   Another building near the center of town that has seen numerous transitions from one local pub after another through many interior and exterior improvements, has experienced incidents of cold spots.  I’ve not yet learned if our spirit in the little brick house ever appeared to previous occupants.

We grew up on the family’s history our father shared with all of us.  There is a powerful connection in knowing everything possible about your ancestors.  Daddy instilled in us a pride for our past, telling us family tales about people, places and things.  But since he was the youngest sibling, it’s possible his older brothers and sisters knew more about Priscilla but they never had an occasion to share that history with us.  Now to know that she was our Step-Aunt, a child from the first marriage of our paternal grandfather, adds another piece of history to our family.

Priscilla Newman finally has a marker placed in the ground where for 104 years she lay in an unmarked grave in the Pauper’s section of Doylestown Cemetery.  No longer unknown to us, she had left Reading in 1900 and settled in the brick house on N.  Broad Street.  She was 46 when she died, widowed twice and a mother to four of her surviving five children.  At last ”Pressie” is at rest. 

What do you know, how much do you know, about your ancestors?  Is there a family member who has taken on that enriching, satisfying, and sometimes surprising journey to discovery?  If not, Do it.

David Charles Dolby, CMH

Army Congressional Medal of Honor

DAVID CHARLES DOLBY, CMH

Sergeant (then Sp4c.), U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Place and date. Republic of Vietnam, 21 May 1966

(14 May 1946  – 6 August 2010) 

May 25, 2011  –  As we approach Memorial Day the Bucks Freedom Jockey has honorably relinquished his image for David Charles Dolby and the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award given to those who’ve performed valiantly on the battle field.

May began with President Barack Obama posthumously awarding the Medal of Honor to the families of two soldiers who fought and died on the battle field during the Korean War

Army Pfc. Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano:  17^th Infantry Regiment, 7^th Infantry Division

Army Pfc. Henry Svehla:  32d Infantry Regiment, 7^th Infantry Division

As of this date there are currently 85 living recipients of the Medal of Honor.  For many of us it would be a treasured opportunity to personally meet any one of these warriors

Some years ago—I can’t recall if it was Memorial Day or Veterans Day—on one of my visits to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, a Medal of Honor had been left at the Wall.  As I walked the length of the Wall to read the messages on letters or notes, or squint at grainy black & white photos of boys or young men, the distinctive blue ribbon with its Medal was tucked neatly at the base of one of the panels.  Every day mementos are placed at the Wall; however on those two special days the Wall becomes overwhelmed with letters, artwork, photos, flowers, campaign ribbons, campaign medals, unit patches, combat boots, or sometimes a can of “333”, the beer chugged by many a grunt in Vietnam.  The discovery of the Medal of Honor quickly became the buzz of veterans on the grounds surrounding the Wall.  It could not have been left by anyone other than a Recipient.  Within an hour of its discovery, for safekeeping a National Parks Ranger retrieved the Medal of Honor from the Wall.  It would be catalogued and archived with the thousands of other mementos that over the years were left at this site that has become sacred to Veterans.

In 1992 I was the editor of The Keystone Veteran, the quarterly newspaper for the Pennsylvania State Council–Vietnam Veterans of America.  While covering a commemorative event at the Philadelphia Vietnam Memorial, I met David Charles Dolby, a five-tour veteran of the Vietnam War and recipient of the Medal of Honor.  Dave gave the keynote address and he allowed me to publish it in the Veteran along with his Medal of Honor Citation.  He called me after the piece appeared, pleased with how the Veteran had introduced him to our members.  A few months later I briefly spoke to him at a Rolling Thunder event in Valley Forge National Park.

Nearly ten years would go by before I got a phone call from Dave–a pleasant surprise after so much time had passed.  We chatted for over half an hour catching up with each other’s lives. He called to invite me as his guest at Valley Forge Chapter 1777 Military Order of Purple Heart’s Banquet held annually at VFW Post 845 in Downingtown.  Two years running I was his guest and both times people would gather around our table to shake his hand or ask him to sign their programs.  Dave always obliged.

Hundreds of us who knew him have our own story of “…the last time I saw Dave…” or “…the last time I spoke to Dave…”  They’re cherished memories.  The last time for me was the Doylestown 2010 Memorial Day Parade.  Dave was the Grand Marshall where he was greatly received along the route of 15,000 plus spectators.  While standing at the cemetery’s military section he turned to Paul his driver and said, “This was nice…we should do it next year.”

Dave was a big man, larger than life.  He had been struggling to lose some weight which for more than a decade had crept onto his 6 foot plus frame.  Whenever we spoke on the phone he always updated me on his diet–how much he’d lost, and when possible, how often he took walks around his neighborhood.  On Memorial Day after the parade while waiting for the service to begin, he proudly showed me the loss of weight, hitching up the white pants that were drooping below his still-wide waistline.

We spoke a few times after that.  Often he called to invite me to join him at veterans’ functions.  But it seemed my calendar kept me from being there.  “Call me when the next one comes up, Dave”, I would say.  Another time he phoned to thank me for sending him a small gift of a beaded Maasai key chain.  He had a close affinity for that East African indigenous tribe and remarked, “This is perfect for my apartment key.”

My last time speaking to Dave was when I called his cell phone.  It was the day before he died.  After he answered the phone he asked, “What time is it?”  And I thought, Where is he?

“It’s 1:30 in the afternoon–Where are you?”  He was in Spirit Lake Idaho visiting friends.  That was Dave.  Whenever possible, he loved to travel.  Sometimes it was reunions or special events for units he served with and even those he did not.  Hanging out with the guys, but most always, not wanting to be the center of attention.  His travels often took him to places across the country and sometimes around the globe.  He told me that after Spirit Lake, he had an itinerary that would not bring him home until the end of the month.  He promised to call.

That night Dave died in his sleep, somehow fitting for a warrior who served five tours in Vietnam.   He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his beloved wife Xuan, who died in 1987.

David Charles Dolby won’t be with us for our 2011 Memorial Day Parade. The familiar white pants and shirt with the embroidered “Mad Dog” on the shirt pocket, and the distinctive light blue ribbon holding the Congressional Medal of Honor around his neck, will no longer be seen at veterans’ functions.  Although he was a life-long resident of Montgomery County, people in Bucks, Delaware, Chester and Philadelphia Counties also claimed him as one of their own.  Dave was America’s Veteran.

The Bucks Underground Railroad

May 18, 2011  –  (This post includes information from an article written by me that first appeared in the September 1986 issue of American Journal of Nursing)

 Eight women.

Who were they, where did they come from and how did they die?  So my journey began and took me to several states and an opportunity to meet some wonderful people.  Since that time, whenever interviews are reported with families who’ve lost a son or daughter to war, it brings back memories of my sitting across from mothers, sisters and brothers as they struggled to recall the lives of their loved ones.

Here are brief sketches of the eight nurses—women who each year on Memorial Day I leave a bouquet of flowers at the base of the Bucks County Vietnam Memorial.

2^d Lt. Carol Ann Drazba (December 11, 1943–February 18, 1966)  –  One of the first of two women to die in Vietnam, Lt. Drazba was born and raised in Dunmore, a small community next to Scranton, PA.  After graduation from nursing school, along with her best friend Marianne, both joined the Army on the buddy system.  After basic training at Ft. Sam Houston (where all Army nurses were trained), they were assigned to Ft. Huachucha in Arizona.  As the war escalated and the need for medical personnel to staff hospitals increased, Carol volunteered for Vietnam.

Lt. Drazba arrived in Vietnam in November 1965 and was attached to the 3^rd Field Hospital near Saigon.  After weeks of endless hours in the surgical ward, she received a weekend pass to an R&R site—a former rubber plantation.  She died with another nurse, 2d Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones and five other military personnel when the helicopter they were riding in unexpectedly crashed.

2d Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones (September 12, 1943–February 18, 1966)  While growing up in Allendale, South Carolina, “Betty Ann” always dreamed of being a nurse.  After joining the Army Nurse Corps in 1965, she was assigned at Ft. Jackson Hospital in South Carolina before her transfer to the 3^rd Field Hospital in Saigon. 

1^st Lt. Hedwig Diane Orlowski (April 13, 1944–November 30, 1967) Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Lt. Orlowski had been in Vietnam almost a year at the 67^th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon.  With a battle raging at nearby Pleiku, she and a group of medical personnel were airlifted to assist with the wounded at that hospital.

Capt. Eleanor Grace Alexander (September 18, 1940—November 30, 1967)  From Rivervale, New Jersey, Capt. Alexander spent six years as a surgical nurse before joining the Army.  Also stationed at the 67^th at Qui Nhon, she too was on the flight with Lt. Orlowski.

Additionally two male nurses were part of that medical team flying to Pleiku:  1^st Lt. Kenneth R. Shoemaker Jr. of Owensboro, Kentucky; and 1^st Lt. Jerome Edwin Olmsted from Clintonsville, Wisconsin.

2d Lt. Pamela Dorothy Donovan (March 25, 1942 – July 8, 1968) was born in Ireland but grew up in Boston, Massachusetts after her family came to America.  After graduation from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital School of Nursing she stayed there for two years before joining the Army in 1967.  Assigned to the 85^th Field Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, she became seriously ill three months after her arrival in country.

Lt. Col Annie Ruth Graham (November 7, 1916 – August 14, 1968)  A native of  Durham, North Carolina, Col Graham was a career Army nurse whose service included World War II and Korea.  In November 1967 she was in charge of the 91^st Evacuation Hospital in Tuy Hoa.  She suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, was air evacuated to Japan for surgery but died three days later.

1^st Lt. Sharon Ann Lane (July 7, 1943 –  June 8, 1969)  The only nurse to die under enemy attack in Vietnam, Lt. Lane was stationed at the 312^th Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai.  An enemy rocket overshot the Marine base and hit a metal structure next to her hut.  It exploded and she was killed instantly from flying shrapnel.  A native of Canton, Ohio she had arrived in Vietnam in April 1969.

Capt. Mary Therese Klinker (October 3, 1947 – April 9, 1975) Originally from Lafayette, Indiana, Capt. Klinker was the only Air Force nurse to die in Vietnam.  While on assignment at Clarke Air Force Base in the Phillipines, a humanitarian call came for personnel to fly into Saigon and airlift hundreds of Vietnamese orphans out of the country.  The C-5 plane, loaded with orphans, adults and her medical crew, experienced an explosion shortly after takeoff.  The rear of the plane ripped off, cabin pressure was lost and as the pilot attempted a return to the landing strip, the plane crashed in a rice field.  There were very few survivors.

With the exception of Lt. Col. Graham, the other seven were sisters from my generation. Many times when putting their lives on paper, I thought about what was happening in my own life as each of them made the decision that took them to a war in a faraway country.  They are my heroines.

Remember all our heroines and heroes this Memorial Day:  Monday, May 30.

Next time:  The Congressional Medal of Honor.