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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

COLD WAR HISTORY FOR BABY BOOMER BEGINNERS

December 27, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The Cold War? Even the name sounds dismissive. Are today’s students reading it and thinking, ‘No one got killed like a Hot War so what’s the big deal? Wasn’t it more peaceful after WWII?’ I know I did. But history isn’t about picking and choosing, hunting and pecking. It’s about the slow roll of time […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, American, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Cold War, David day, education, gulag, historical access, historical relevance, history, iron curtain, learning, library of congress, loyal, loyalty, relevance, Russia, Soviet Union, stalin, story, USA, war, writer, writers, writing

SEPARATION DAY, EVERY VETERAN’S DAY

November 12, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Separation day is the day you become a veteran. You get your papers and hit the road. My veteran road began in New Jersey, Fort Dix to be specific, which has a new role to play. The Army road began in Fort Ord, which also has a new role. From one September to another two […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, Death, destruction, Elvis, historical video, leadership, leadership training, learning, MARRIAGE, married, military, North Bend, older, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, separation day, story, u.s. Army, veteran's day, Vietnam, war, war zones, writer, writing

PORTLAND WAR ZONE: OMSI DRAFT

October 4, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I got drafted to go to the Portland war zone at OMSI. It’s been in the works for quite some time with all of the science and industry nonsense spewing out at an unsuspecting public who knows better. I suspended my disbelief, girded my loins, and made the long slog.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: beaverton, blogger, boomer blogger, east coast, history, industry, Los Angeles, Los Angeles war zone, OMSI, Oregon, oregon pioneers, Oregonian, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, science, war, war zone, wife, writer

THREATENING PARENTS FOR KID’S BEHAVIOR? WHAT’S NEXT

August 23, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I saw a clip of the masked men of Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatening parents to convince someone behind the locked door of a barber shop to open up. Agent: “I’m going to go get your dad—and I’m going to get your mom!” Witness: “Y’all can’t tell him that, though. His mom?” Agent: “Yes […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: behavior, combat, Dad, devastating attack, dmv, dmv manager, due process, face, gunned down, injustice of war, kidnapper, kids, Korean War, Marine Corps, marine wife, Marines, Mom, parents, permanent record, policy, Rasputin, reality TV, reality tv star, red flag, threatening, threatening parents, veteran, war, what's next, wife

CITIZEN JOURNALIST REPORTING ON TWITTER

June 3, 2025 by David Gillaspie

If you are a new ‘citizen journalist’ you should never scroll twitter. At certain times. As a seasoned writer, and speaking for all writers seasoning in their personal blogs, you need sources more reliable than x. The drumbeat over there is too tempting to tap a foot to. Don’t do it.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, attention span, baby boomer, Baby Boomer Generation, BOOMER, boring, citizen, citizen journalist, collateral damage, Death Benefit, grandkids, journalist, kids, literacy, lose interest, mass consumption, media, millennials, personal blogs, readers, reference, responsible writing, scroll twitter, seasoned writer, sensational expose, tweet, twitter, twitter deception, twitter hysteria, twitter post, war, writer

POWER RULES WRITTEN TO FOLLOW

June 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Power rules come in a variety of formats including written, verbal, and example. The written ones seem to carry the most importance since we’ll never know the verbal or actions of history. Unless it’s written down. Once direct orders are written down, the next bit of documentation is the recollection of events, the after-action report […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, better stories, books, BOOMER, boomerpdx, boomers, documentation, education, family, first historian, germany, history, history books, history writers, informed decision, japanese, kryptonite, power, power distribution, power rules, rules, stories, story, trauma, unconditional surrender, war, wife, write, writer, writing, written, written down, WWII

FOLLOWING ORDERS WITH FELLOW FOLLOWERS

March 6, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Following orders seems simple at face value: Someone tells someone what to do and the second someone does it. Done deal? Not so fast.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: all volunteer army, Army, boss, bullied, bully, caregiver, cowing down, face value, fear, fellow followers, followers, following, following orders, germany, historical, historical reference, karma, loss, mai lai massacre, orders, Parkinson's, powerful position, senior care, soldiers, testosterone, volunteer, war, WWII, young men

BREAKING NEWS BREAKDOWN ON GOOGLE

June 24, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Search for ‘Breaking News’ and what do you get? Google News at the top of the scroll. Makes sense. Search google for breaking news and they promote themselves. I’d do the same thing. So would you. Let’s take a look around.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: arms dealers, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, BOOMER, boomerpdx, breakdown, breaking news, conflict, global, google, google news, military, national, news, policy goals, remembered, self interest, self serving, SERP, war

WWII DOCUMENTARIES SHOW TOO MUCH DEATH

February 16, 2024 by David Gillaspie

WWII documentaries and death usually go hand in hand. That’s what you get watching video about the deadliest war in human history. But the bigger story is for those who lived to tell. Or a blogging veteran, U.S. Army, ’74-’76.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: bad date, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, dead, Death, dying, English, historian, history, MIT, pay attention, professor, reading, rich man, Social media, story, story class, story telling, telling stories, war, wealth, wealthy, writer, writers, writing, WWII, WWII documentaries, WWII story