Army Archives • DAVIDPDX

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ONE PFC’S INTERNATIONAL OPINION: NATO

April 6, 2026 by David Gillaspie 2 Comments

As an Army veteran from the mid-1970’s I’ve had time to work up an international opinion on NATO. Reading history is one thing; reading history after wearing the uniform is a whole nother level. Racing up the promotional ranks to the heights of private first class brings it home. The low ranks are the gravel […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Afghanistan, Army, army pfc, Army veteran, Baby Boomer blogger, confusion, disorder, draft dodger, education, history, international, international opinion, koren war, learning, lofty goal, military bases, NATO, pushing war, veteran, war, writer, writing, WWII

DO MORE? LIKE WHAT

March 13, 2026 by David Gillaspie

You need to do more to matter? That’s what you ask yourself when someone says, “You need to do more to matter.” Have you heard that? I still hear it and I’m not some spring chicken pecking my way around the pen. When is enough enough?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, big brother, classic, classic funny, coaching, college, confidence, deployed, do more, education, funny, graduated, judging, losses, opinion, sports, story, unmotivated, wins, writer, writers, writing

POLITICAL HISTORY = HISTORY

January 18, 2026 by David Gillaspie

When you consider historical facts, when you read history, you’re reading political history. With any luck, what you read is put together by someone who has read and understands the role of politics. What is that role? Creating a just and vibrant society for the greatest number of people. But that’s just my opinion.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blind allegiance, boy scout, buzzwords, defective people, draft, draft dodgers, education, excuse, followers, full force, giving back, good times, history, learning, magna carta, modern problems, naive, Nixon, poor behavior, Portland Oregon, relatable, show it, story, tell it, travel, twitter, Vietnam War, writer, writers, writing, WWII

FAMILY TREE BRANCH OF RICHARDSONS

December 7, 2025 by David Gillaspie

As people age up and out they look for meaning in different places. Where some look to DNA, others shake the family tree. That’s what my Grandma did years ago. This is what dropped out:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: admiral, admiral richardson, Army, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, club life, December 7, education, family tree, following orders, future, general, general richardson, history, illegal orders, learning, Navy, orders, Pearl Harbor, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Texas state historical association, WWII

RESTFUL SLEEP FOR BETTER DAYS

October 10, 2025 by David Gillaspie

For those who wonder about the benefit of restful sleep, stay up a little longer and keep reading. If you’re not on schedule for a solid eight hours of sleep, with power naps mixed in, keep reading. There is something keeping you up, something you can’t put your finger on, or step on, but what? […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Afghanistan, Army, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, better day, blog, blogger, calm down, chain of command, china, dismissed, education, history, illegal orders, Iraq, Korea, lawful orders, learning, Marines, mental, military, military mindset, mindset, narrator, normal, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, Power Nap, rest, restful, restful sleep, senior citizens, sleep, story, stressful, turbulent times, unreliable narrator, Vietnam, woke, writer

COMMUNITY STORYTELLING: U.S. ARMY 1974-1976

September 30, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The definition of community for Community Storytelling from Oregon Humanities: When we say “community,” we mean any group of people who share a common experience thanks to where they live, the language they speak, their race, their religion, their age, or some other attribute. When we say “storytelling,” we mean nonfiction stories conveyed through […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: admirals, Army, Authority, baby boomer, blogger, boomerpdx, chain of command, community, community storytelling, cultural, culture, education, family, generals, history, leadership, millennials, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, revival, soldiers, story, storytelling, travel, veteran, vietnam era, Vietnam War, Vietnam-Era Veteran, writer

THE UNITED FEELING FROM HERE

September 10, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I get that united feeling when I think about how much we all have in common. It’s a growing feeling, but still elusive when differences are strong. Fortunately, being different is a good thing, not a shame thing. We have that in common. But, still . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, best friends, big accomplishment, black hat, blog traffic, blogger, china, Chinese, Chinese readers, college, common ground, cultural exchange, culture, disappointments, education, higher education, historical authority, military draft, new readers, nw history, old friends, personal blogger, readers, relatives, senior citizens, SEO, u.s. history, united feeling

THE EASY WAY, OR THATAWAY

August 10, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The idea of the ‘easy way’ is a problem. To those who know how to do everything, it’s all easy. For them, not you. Anyone else who tries doing what they do would screw up. For example:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: annals of history, Army, army shirt, belligerent, community, community march, conductor, daughters, decisions, dishonest, easy way, emotional, emotional meltdown, first class, first class story, good story, history, honest, kind, kindness, Kurt Vonnegut, march, meltdown, nice, protest, secret mission, that way, thataway, ticket to ride, turbulent times, undisclosed location, user instructions

CONTINUING LEGACY, CONTINUING STORY

August 6, 2025 by David Gillaspie

When a continuing legacy includes another brick in the wall, or sidewalk, it’s a reminder. Who does this? I do, as part of a group, a family group. What’s it a reminder for? The path ahead.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, brick in the wall, continuing legacy, continuing story, family, family group, farm raised, first house, Grandparents, history, LA, legacy, legacy brick, live chicken, memories, NYC, pfc gillaspie, philadelphia, reckless, regular army, shadow, shadow girl, story

WRITTEN RULES TO FOLLOW

July 12, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Written rules started early for baby boomers. “Do this, not that, and do it better than you did last time. I’ll write it down so you don’t forget.” From yard work to school work, to spending time with friends, there were rules. Ignore the rules and you might be the kid standing in the corner […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, Baby Boomers, boomers, condition report, following orders, law, magna carta, Meaning, NPR, Oregon, oregon guys, Portland, reading, reading people, rules, rules of conduct, words, write, write it, writing, written, written rules