Honor: Senator John McCain
Like all the students and graduates of military academies and schools, my officer training classmates and I pledged our commitment to the Army’s Code of Conduct. This code said that we would follow the rules of the school, the military services, the Constitution, and laws of the United States of America. Fulfilling our duties was…Read More
The First Time
Darius Rucker sings a song entitled “For the First Time” in which he asks the following question: “When was the last time you did something for the first time?” In February 1967 I was sleeping with twenty other soldiers on the second floor of a World War II era army barracks at Fort Sill, Oklahoma….Read More
Our Other Heroes
A kind, generous and good person died recently. Her name was Sara Beaty. Sara’s husband, John, was a career military man before the family returned to Dallas, North Carolina more than two decades ago. Sara stood by her courageous husband, an Air Force pararescue veteran of more than twenty years. Among his jobs was to…Read More
Trinity Gave Voice to Fellowship, Lasting Friendships
This article was originally published in the Gaston Gazette. When I moved from Raleigh to Gastonia in 1981, my family joined Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, then led by a dynamic pastor named Peter Setzer. Among our early friends at the church were Don and Lynn Leonard, who had recently moved to our community from Salisbury….Read More
Why Can’t We Carry Each Other?
Shelly Springfield sings a song entitled “Why Can’t We Carry Each Other?” I like the song, but the answer to the question might surprise you. It certainly makes sense that we want to carry each other. Most of us are naturally inclined to care about and for one another. From birth we are taught by…Read More
Wealth Creation
“Wealth is created through the long-term ownership of a growing business.” — Herb Ehlers, retired Chief Investment Officer of Eagle Asset Management and Goldman Sachs. In early 1998 I met with a young couple in Virginia to discuss their financial future. As I recall, they were both physicians, slightly arrogant, but in a benevolently condescending…Read More
Standing Up for America
On September 5, 1967, I stood straight and tall in a large auditorium on Fort Sill, Oklahoma with more than one hundred men in my Army OCS class. We raised our right hands and swore to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We were given our…Read More
My Op-Ed at the Gaston Gazette: Monuments Only Have the Power We Convey to Them
My op-ed on monuments was recently published at the Gaston Gazette: If you are white and you grew up in the South like me, it is quite possible that you have good friends whose skin is darker than yours. For me they are James, Brenda, Jay, Stacie, Kirsten, Mel, Stephanie, Michael, Ty, Bernard, Paulette, Oyobode,…Read More
Time
Time is elusive. We can’t see it, feel it, or smell it, but we know that time exists and that it profoundly affects our lives. We experience time in its linear dimension. If you are a person of faith you may believe and understand that God created time. But when you think deeply about this…Read More
My Books
