Marine Corps
Oklahoma City Bombing: A Marine sergeant sat dazed and bleeding in what remained of his gutted office. The strong odor of gas was in the air and nothing could be seen through the thick, black smoke billowing in through the shattered windows. “I’m in hell,” thought Sgt. Tad Snidecor, Recruiting Station Oklahoma City supply clerk, seconds after the April 19 bomb ripped through the Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.
Amtrak Disaster: The scene was like the set of an action film, but there were no cameras. Three quarters of the rail bridge was missing. A train car hung precariously over the edge of what remained. The rest of the train was scattered like toys in the water. The first engine car had apparently gone airborne once it derailed, because it had plowed three quarters deep into the mud on shore, sticking almost straight up and down. The wreckage was still smoking from the fire that had consumed the first three cars.
Bright Star Artillery: “Hurry up! We’ve got stuff to blow up,” growled the battery gunny to his troops. It was early morning of Oct. 21. The sun was just starting to burn away the evening’s chill in this barren section of the Egyptian desert. Scattered around the grumpy gunnery sergeant on the broken rock and sand of the desert ground were Marines of B Battery, Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. They were busy devouring a hot breakfast consisting of powdered eggs, sausage links, cereal, juice, and coffee delivered to them from a distant field mess.
Columnist
Death on a Budget: “Just stuff me in a Hefty Cinch-Sack and stick me out by the curb.” My wife gets annoyed when I tell her that. Every once in a while the subject of death arrangements comes up and she asks me what I want done with my body. I invariably shrug my shoulders. Once I’m dead, that’s it. What do I care what happens to my body?
Christmas at Sea: Marines and Sailors aboard the USS Nassau are thinking of home as they tear open their mail and munch on overdone or undercooked burgers. It’s a Merry Christmas at sea for these men and women serving their country half way around the world.
Feature Writing
Bringing Back Red Wolves: The Western Carolina Nature Center in Asheville is one of the facilities that volunteered its space and services to the breeding program effort. A red wolf habitat was built at the nature center 15 years ago and has been home to a male red wolf for most of that time. He doesn’t have an official name, according to Bob Fay, nature center animal curator, but he is often referred to as Guy. Guy has been a successful stud. Different female wolves are introduced periodically, and so far Guy has fathered about four litters that have survived into maturity.
In Search of the Haunt: Over 30 years ago, Marsha Riddle would have labeled herself a skeptic. But the strange things she has witnessed since 1972 when she and her family moved into the Magnolia plantation home have convinced her that there are ghosts lingering in the old house. Objects move when they should be still, doors slam shut and lock of their own accord, strange footprints herald the visit of otherworldly visitors, and voices call out from empty air.
Guest Columns/Op-eds
Anti-science education bill not benign, Tallahassee Democrat, April 14, 2017.
Bills threaten science education, Daytona Beach News-Journal, March 29, 2017.
Florida needs ‘Next Generation” science education standards, Gainesville Sun, April 16, 2012.
Science ed needs a boost in Florida, Orlando Sentinel, September 12, 2012.
Our Science Problem, Tampa Bay Times, June 5, 2009.