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Where have you encountered a story set both in WWII and 1991 (novel present), where American GIs were murdered, and German POWs took their place in American society? If you can’t, then enter the world of Sam Call and Grave Honor-The Tenth Man.

Grave Honor is the first in a series that emphasizes the bond that only real soldiers develop; 'Leave no man behind' is not just a phase but an oath that some live and die by. This story is a mystery thriller, which is filled with missing persons, intense conflict, moments of heroism, and comedic moments, all wrapped around the intense love Mary and Sam have for each other and those in their lives. 

Now in the civilian world, Sam Call, in his new role as investigator, is sent to investigate the financial dealings of a Public Records company. While seeking data that would determine if there were illegal activities involving acquisitions, Sam quickly discovers the vastness of the public records data systems, the immense power the company, and the data, have over the lives of typical and not-so-typical citizens. In this huge, almost unchecked repository of personal data, proper inquiries can provide an individual's entire life’s history, including their connections with other people, property, and companies. While using the powerful reporting tools, Sam unknowingly comes across individual names that alert the F.B.I. Because of his inquiries, Sam once again finds himself the target of those who would wish to silence anything Sam has to say, as well as silencing Sam–permanently.

  Set in the year 2000, Sam Call is shocked when his daughter is found murdered along with her much older live-in boyfriend, of whom Sam disapproves. The nature of the crime, and the unaccounted-for behavior of the murdered man, led the local police to determine that the murders were drug-related. Sam and Mary are devastated by the death of their daughter but unbelieving of the police chief’s findings in the case. Calling on his old friend and business partner, Sam sets out to find the truth. What he finds is that money, sex, and loneliness can take even an honorable person to places they would have never dreamed possible of going.

Every day, in this volatile political world of ours, there are dozens of articles about what's in the news.  I try not to do the same old thing and repeating what you can read in a dozen other places.  I write my substack to capture one "Starfish" and hope to lead them out of the dark side of Trumpism.  

You can CLICK here and join my Substack..  It is free--but feel free to be a subscriber and help pay the bills.

I used to be able to have my letters published in the local paper but that no longer happens.  Our local small-town newspaper ended the submission of my letters with this, "...we do not allow letters that encourage people to vote for, or vote against, a specific candidate." In times like these, what letters are more important?

An older man was walking on a pier at the beach.  There had been a storm the night before, and he wanted to see how the beach withstood the wind and surf.  He stopped at a spot overlooking the beach, leaned on the railing, and there he saw thousands of starfish stranded on the beach.  They had been brought onshore by the storm at high tide, and the retreating tide and surf stranded them there where they would surely die.

If one can’t make their point with facts and persuasion, those of a small mind resort to a “big voice.”  Those with a big voice overpower the people with visceral verbal responses and drown out those who speak quietly, who rely on facts and good sense to be persuasive.   If you can’t win them over with facts, then yell them into submission.  Donald Trump has a big voice.   

 As I have written before, we are shaped by our life experiences.  My past was soldiering, and it has certainly influenced my thinking. 

I was on Main Street the other day, and an older man walked by me wearing his “I’m a Veteran” hat.  Just in passing, I usually thank them for their service.  This time was different; I noticed a pin on his collar, “Trump 2024.”  It made me think. How can a military veteran be for Trump? 

When I was a young boy, I was given a book to read on General Armstrong Custer, an American hero and a martyr who fell defending the frontier at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. I read the book, saw the movie – They Died With Their Boots On – an Earl Flynn classic, and I drank the Kool-aid. I was taught that the American Indians were savages who slaughtered American Soldiers and who should be despised and shunned.  

I am over 70 now, and in an effort to stay healthy, and I admit somewhat vain about my appearance, I go to the gym every weekday morning and play basketball.  I have always loved the game and when I was young, I played all the time.  I wasn’t very good.  I was skinny, wore thick glasses, and was not the poster child for the sport of basketball.  Getting older, I got bigger and ditched the glasses via LASIK—OMG, an amazing new visual world—and I got a whole new game.  But that is not the real subject.

I was recently walking in a park in New Orleans when I came across a group of 20 to 25 kindergarten children.  They were with a teacher, and she gave them a short lesson as they sat together on the grass. Then they rose, took the hand of the next child, and all walked together in a line, holding hands, to the next area. The children were adorable; they were of all different races, all sitting and learning together. As I watched these innocent young children, I had a terrible thought:   

I have been and continue to be fascinated by the support that Donald Trump has.  What is it that his followers love about this guy?  I believe he is everything that a President is not supposed to be.  But I have heard all kinds of rational why they like him, some of which are just too out there to even fathom.  I just heard, “He kept us out of any war while in office.”  That one got me, as I guess the man forgot about Afghanistan, which is not unlikely since most people had forgotten about it, and the soldiers stuck there for twenty years.  

There has been so much negative activity as a result of the activities of Trump, but there have been good things that have come of it.  Let me give you a few.

There is a renewed interest in the Republic: what it is, what it means to us, and the need to protect it.  Americans are concerned, engaged, and involved.

I ran into a casual friend in our coffee shop the other day who said to me.  "What's going on these days with Trump is mind-boggling."  Thinking we were on the same page, I agreed.  He followed up by saying, "They stole the election from him, and this Mar-a-Largo records thing is so bogus.”  I was stunned; I never thought he was on that side of the aisle and had always thought of my friend as an informed person.

We all remember what happened on January 6, 2021, when a mob, a violent mob intent on stopping the certification process, attacked the U.S. Capitol building. In the process, seven people died, hundreds were injured, and the very future of the Republic was in the balance.  Will it happen again?