Monday, August 24, 2026
1572 The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants by Roman Catholics began in Paris with the murder by defenestration of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and later spread to the French provinces
1857 The Panic of 1857 began, setting off one of the most severe economic crises in U.S. history
1941 I was born in Englewood Hospital at 60th and Green Sts. on the South Side of Chicago
1968 France became the world's fifth thermonuclear power with a detonation at Mururoa Atoll in the South Pacific
2025. An estimated 300,000 people across Australia, including at least 100,000 in Melbourne, marched to protest the Israeli escalation of the Gaza war and its plans to militarily seize the entirety of Gaza, while also calling for the Australian government to sanction Israel.
In bed at 9:25, up at 5:15; 0539 203.2 120/77/57 XXX. 54/73/54, sunny.
Morning meds at a.m. Entresto at 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Birthday treats. It seems that on each of the last few years (at least), my birthday treat for myself has been to take a ride in the country and to shop at either Costco or one of our regular supermarkets, Sendik's or MetroMarket. I'm a cheap date. I guess I jumped the gun with yesterday's long ride out to Little Cedar Lake and stopping at Costco to gas up, but I'll probably take another ride and visit another store today. It looks like another lovely weather day. I'll probably get a FaceTime call from Germany today from Sarah and Christian and an email in German from Gerhard, which I'll read and respond to through the blessing of Google Translate. I'm so glad that Sarah married into the Kovacs family and has been so accepted as a family member within it. I wish I could go visit again, but that doesn't seem possible. Her hometown of Geretsried in southern Bavaria is only 22 miles south of Munich, 40 miles from Austria, 90 miles from northern Italy, and 120 miles from Switzerland. I'm thankful for having been able to make two trips there. The photo is of my German family at a Kovacs family get-together. Top to bottom, left side, are Christian, Sarah, Lizzie, and Marcus; right side, Olga, Gerhard, and Aunt Birgit and Uncle Peter. [Sarah and Christian called around 11 a.m., and we chatted for quite a while. Andy texted me and will be coming over later. . . He came at 6 with a card Lizzie drew from the whole family & we had a good chat. Then I had the ribeye steak birthday treat dinner Geri made for me. I'm a lucky guy.
Email exchange with near-60-year buddy and fellow leatherneck LOA:
On Monday, August 24, 2026,8:00 AM, Charles Clausen
Thanks, Pal. My Dad saw the flag go up from one of the landing beaches. He was a radioman assigned to the Joint Assault Signals Company, or JASCO, that was positioned on the beach throughout the battle, a little way from the Navajo code-talkers, and where the corpsmen collected the wounded and dying awaiting evacuation. He saw some bad shit, shit that stayed with him throughout his life, till he died at 86. He was discharged in November 1945, and he and my mother suffered a lot from his PTSD. His PTSD, and hers from a sexual assault/rape in 1947, left an imprint on my little sister and me throughout our lives. As I wrote before, I can't imagine what went through their heads and hearts when they visited the Iwo memorial, and wonder what I'll experience, or whether I'll just go numb, which is sometimes my reaction to hard emotional experiences. One of my Navy ROTC buddies, a year behind me, is buried at Arlington, J. Forrest Trembley, who was a backseat driver on a Navy A-6, shot down in 1967 over N Vietnam, but landed across the border in China. His remains were finally identified in 2004, and buried in Arlington in 2005. His name, and the name of "Moon Mullen", a Marine buddy and A-4 pilot shot down in Laos in 1966, are on the VN Wall. "Moon's" remains were never recovered. His wife, back in Massachusetts, where they lived, wrote a book about her experiences after receiving the telegram from DOD, titled "Every Effort." It was published in 1986, and I learned about it 20-some years ago when I was writing my memoir, but I've never read it. I just ordered a used copy of it. I've always had at least some "survivor's guilt" about Vietnam, which I suppose will be re-triggered by the Honor Flight. Thanks again for your message, s/f
On Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 08:40:16 PM CDT, Lawrence Anderson
You cannot turn that down The airplane will have a bathroom and there will be old dudes on that trip in the same boat. Wear your depends and bring a couple of extra pair. You’ll be ok. Been to the Memorial a few times. Brings tears to the eyes of this old Marine. s/f
On Aug 23, 2026, at 8:40 PM, Charles Clausen
I forgot to mention. I've been selected for a Stars and Stripes Honor Flight to D.C. on October 10th, and I accepted, but I'm having second thoughts about the wisdom of not being near my own bathroom for that long day, about 15 hours, out and back. It would get me to the Iwo Jima monument in Arlington, which I've never been to and would like to see, among other reasons because my Mom and Dad visited it maybe 50 years ago. I can't imagine what that was like for each of them, but I would dearly like to follow in their footsteps. s/f
On Sunday, August 23, 2026 at 02:47:57 PM CDT, Lawrence Anderson
Song Sung Blue. Great movie and a great cast. Hard to beat Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Jim Belushi, etc. and the music. Kind of sad though. Sue Thompson had a hit record in the 50’s called “Sad Movies Always Make Me Cry” . Reminded me of that.
Watched my Brewers beat my Braves the last two days. Still a Brewers fan though. My wife is pissed. I love them but never forgave ‘em for leaving me.
Don’t forget “West with Giraffes”. It was Jan’s book club selection that sounded good so I read it Good book. If you like historical fiction you might enjoy Philip Read. He writes a series of books starting with “Berlin Noir”. The protagonist is a guy named Bernard Gunther who is a homicide detective in pre-war Berlin who hates the Nazis. Read is a Brit who makes literary references I’m ashamed to say I never heard of. You might like it. Not “War and Peace, but another good read. Take care Buddy. s/f
The attitude of gratitude. I have some bad habits and tendencies, most of which I've had my whole life. I have a voracious sweet tooth that I've never tried to control; I always give into it. I love to eat the stuff I like, and regularly eat too much of it, letting my 130-pound high school senior put on 100 pounds, most of it after I got out of the Marines. There have been a few times when I've gotten regular exercise, but usually nothing more demanding than walking, and usually I'm a couch potato, but on a recliner. Somehow, I have nevertheless lived to see my 85th birthday, outliving so many who have lived so much more responsibly. My worst tendency is to let precious friendship wither, lapse, and fade away. I feel the effects of this most keenly now that I've outlived most of my good friends and live with some geriatric loneliness. Another costly deficit in my character is an underdeveloped or underpracticed attitude of gratitude, and my tendency to live as Mickey the Mope, especially to get bogged down in Trumpism and politics, where the nation is heading, and all that sorry shit. I thought of this earlier today as I watched a few YouTube videos of Brandi Carllile, Linda Ronstadt, Allison Krauss, and even Janis Joplin. I thought to myself, 'What gifts these performers are, what blessings." I thought of how moved I get by the great variety of music I enjoy, occasionally almost moved to tears by it, tears of joy. And how accessible that music is to me. I thought of how moved I now get over so much - the trees all around me, the clouds above me, the farmfield, barns, horses, and dairy cows I see on my drives in the nearby, so accessible country near me,, my daily visitors: so many birds, turkeys, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, even coyotes, and of course my precious wife, children, step-children, and grandchildren, and my dear friends, and good neighbors. I should be, if not blissful most of the time, at least profoundly grateful for all that I have and have had in my long, full life. Instead, I too often mope about with "da mizzries." Mickey the Mope. Denny the Downer, Moise Pipik as a farbissoner kvetch. My mother and sister would be ashamed of me, reminding me to "Snap out of it!" I should start my daily gratitude journal again. I'll let this entry stand as the first testament of gratitude, for the many, many musicians, artists, performers of all sorts who have not just entertained me, but lifted my spirits and enriched my life. I'll start just by listing some of my longtime female country favorites, like Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, LeAnn Rimes, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Martina McBride, Roseanne Cash, and the great Patsy Cline. I should add the one and only Linda Ronstadt and K. D. Lang, though they cover a few genres. It's a start.
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