1 Kings

March 20, 2024

March 20, 1944 – On Anzio a beachhead order to the men to wear steel hats or pay fine

AP correspondent, Richard G. Massock, observed, “Germans are being killed on the Anzio beachhead by “some pretty grim looking characters.”[1]
March 20, 2024

A recording of my WWII presentation at the LSU Military Museum

This presentation, “At First Light: How a Teenager Became a WWII Hero” was delivered at the William A. Brookshire LSU Military Museum in October 2023 as […]
March 19, 2024

March 19, 1944 – Not a single spot on Anzio Beachhead is safe from enemy gunfire

Journalist George Tucker wrote, “To appreciate Anzio it is necessary to remember that the beachhead is shaped like a fan, the handle of which is a […]
March 18, 2024

March 18, 1944 – To seize a beachhead like Anzio was one thing—to hold it indefinitely was another

The miserly affection with which the limited ground on the Anzio, Italy beachhead was coveted is shown by the fact that during March the 3rd Infantry […]
March 17, 2024

March 17, 1944 – Dad’s first medal of valor caused Mount Vesuvius to blow her top

Well, not really. But the two events occurred in close proximity to each other. Phil’s first medal of valor was the Silver Star the Army’s third […]
March 16, 2024

March 16, 1944 – Baptism by fire (Part 2)

“No soldier in any of our theaters of operations is better acquainted with this war than is the Infantryman, and no Infantryman knows war more intimately […]
March 15, 2024

March 15, 1944 – Baptism by fire (Part 1)

“In every battle, the last one hundred yards of the fight belongs to the Infantry. Armed with rifle and bayonet, Infantrymen must face and defeat the […]
March 14, 2024

March 14, 1944 – Skirmishes increase on the Anzio front line

The countless stone houses of standard design lined the few roads across the Anzio beachhead. To the front of Dad’s units the stone farm houses were […]
November 20, 2019

I know that you have little strength

Now, Lord my God, I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. … “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, […]
November 23, 2019

Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise!

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
January 8, 2020

The Old Heart – 1

The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart … he […]
January 8, 2020

The New Heart – 1

For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but […]
January 29, 2020

The Lord is … 2

Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are […]
March 31, 2020

God’s Gift to Us

When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.