Saturday, October 3, 2026
1990 Reunification of East and West Germany. West German flag was raised above the Brandenburg Gate at the stroke of midnight.
1992 Irish pop singer Sinéad O'Connor ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on "Saturday Night Live"
2008 The $700 billion bailout bill for the US financial system was signed by President George W. Bush
2021 Pandora Papers investigation revealed the secret wealth of 30 current and former world leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Czech PM Andrej Babis, and former UK PM Tony Blair
2025 The US Navy conducted a strike targeting an alleged drug smuggling boat on the Venezuelan coast. According to U.S. defense secretary Pete Hegseth, at least four crewmembers were killed in the attack.
2025 Day 6 of the last 7 days as an inpatient at Zablocki VA Medical Center [cellulitis]
In bed at 9:20, up at 4:15; 117/69/68 202.6; 50/63/48, sunny.
Morning meds at a.m. Entresto at 5:30 a.m. and p.m.
I'll be there in a few days, accompanied and looked after by my son Andy. It will be my first visit to Arlington National Cemetery and to the Marine Corps Memorial depicting the flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, which my Dad saw in person from the landing beach below. This tribute's focus on the absence of rank insignia on the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reminds me of my countless visits to Wood National Cemetery here in Milwaukee, with its thousands of headstones, all of the same dimensions, as are all the headstones at all the national cemeteries. None is larger or smaller than the others based on the rank of the dead service member. Each is respected alike simply for having served, for having answered the call for service. The same is true of the medical care provided to former service members at the neighboring Zablocki VA Medical Center. No one is asked what his or her military rank was, when or where he or she served, whether during war or peacetime, in combat or in support. All receive the same attention simply because they served; they went when called. The national cemeteries and all the VA facilities around the country are the country's response to Abraham Lincoln's call to the nation in his Second Inaugural Address 'to bind up the wounds,' and 'to care for him who shall have borne the battle.' We who have received the benefits Lincoln called for are grateful for them. We're also mindful of those who considered us "suckers" and "losers" for having answered the call and of the one, in particular, who treats the men and women now in military and naval service like toy soldiers and sailors, playthings to be moved about according to his whims. It's enough to make a grown man or woman cry.- and rage.
Not a day for writing. I spent most of it with Sarah, including a lovely drive up to Hilltop Road in the northwest corner of Ozaukee County, and a stop at Total Wine on the way back home. She bought me a bottle of Federalist zinfandel, and I had a carefully measured 3 ounces after dinner. Two ounces, sipped and savored, and I was very dizzy when I stood up. Almost scary. Very out of practice. Geri spent the afternoon with Ellis and one of her friends at David and Sharon's house.
Lake Park, foggy morning, crabapple tree, no longer there. A photo taken 50 (?) years ago, lying on my belly on the downslope of the hill down to Lincoln Memorial Drive. My best photo.
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