Conservative Political Forum

That sounds like a great book kit! I'm going to check it out! Hope was an amazing person.
 
He once had a brush with the mercy of Almighty God in the form of an incident with a fellow I had the great pleasure of knowing personally. Barney McNulty was Hope's cue-card guy - he basically started the business of writing out cue cards back in the early days of Hollywood so stars didn't have to remember all of their lines - especially during live shows. Barney travelled with Hope's USO troop but he had a bad habit - he was always late. Always. Between shows, Barney liked to take a bunch of his cameras, grab a cab or borrowed a military jeep in whatever exotic country / city they were in overseas and go sight-seeing (and drinking). Barney was a one-man US good-will ambassador - infinitely trusting / friendly with everyone he'd meet and always finding a way to communicate even when he didn't speak the local language (money is great facilitator for understandings). Inevitably whenever the troop was packed up and ready to board a plane, boat or train to go to their next destination, Barney would be late returning to base. It became a major pet peeve of Hope's because it was a regular thing - Barney was ALWAYS late, regardless of how strongly he was cajoled, pleaded with or threatened.

While the USO tour was in Viet Nam, the entourage was on a military base - everything was packed up and ready to board a military transport to fly to the next stop - and as usual Barney was nowhere to be seen and his job was so essential to the show that they could not leave without him. Hope was reportedly livid. He railed and cursed and swore that this time he was going to fire Barney the first chance he got when he returned to the states and would never work with him again. They had been waiting for at least a half hour when a thundering boom was heard in the distance and everyone nervously turned in the direction of the sound, murmuring with curiosity and many of the military escorts immediately communicated with their radios and left in a hurry. Eventually the military liaison came up and explained that a large terrorist bomb had just gone off across the compound. He further revealed that it had been placed in the staging area where Hope's entourage had been scheduled to be at that very time. If they had been on schedule...many of them would likely be dead. A few minutes later Barney came roaring in through the gate, hustled up with all of his gear shouting how he was ready to go, chattering with the usual apologies / excuses and no doubt expecting to be  lambasted. Hope greeted him personally, grabbed him, hugged him and announced for everyone to hear, "Barney can be as late as he wants, whenever he wants from now on!"

And he was. 

My latest is called "To Kingdom Come: An Epic of Survival in the Air War Over Germany," by Robert J. Mrazek. It's an incredibly detailed and researched book-length accounting of a single daylight bombing mission that took place on September 6, 1943 over Stuttgart, Germany. The story is told with heart and feeling, loaded with personal detail and amazing technical accuracy. The story is one of those that will change the way you think about life and death and war and good and evil and power and weakness. It is a story of heroism and tragedy and carnage and stupidity and luck, both good and bad.

My dad served in World War II, as a Seaman 1C on a Fletcher-class tin can in the South Pacific. He and around 300 shipmates celebrated his 18th birthday 8,000 miles from home, while a million or so Japanese were using every tool at their disposal to kill them all.

Until I die, I will always wonder how those boys -- and they were boys -- did what they did.

I noticed this topic was created a while ago but it was still on top.  Two recent reads are worth your time.  Having traveled these roads often, 'Deep South' was fascinating. The interstates have changed America in many ways.

'Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads'  by Paul Theroux'

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23719344-deep-south

And this will surely make you think differently about the mind.

'Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain'  David Eagleman

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9827912-incognito


"The best advice I ever got was that knowledge is power and to keep reading."  David Bailey

Interesting. I take it the first was written, or took place before 1940?

'Deep South' was published in 2015,  Theroux drives the back roads we have often driven. He visits and talks with the people. Route 301, 13, 17, 29, 331, or even Rt 61 in Mississippi. They too are changing, wider and they often bypass the towns now.  Somethings have changed but much has remained the same.  Change is slow and often complex.

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road."

Walt Whitman 'Song of the Open Road'

That would have been me, back in he day when I wore a younger mans attire.