Category Featured
What in the Worlds? Civil War Veteran and Journalist’s Close Encounter with ‘Martians’ Near Lodi in 1896
On the eve of Halloween in 1938, Orson Welles mystified six million American listeners with his radio spoof of “War of The Worlds,” based upon H.G. Wells’ novel by the same name and published 40 years earlier. Vanity Fair magazine in 2015 called the broadcast “the world’s first viral fake-news media event.” Ever since that […]
Veteran Chula Vista Couple Sent “Star Trek” Back to the Future for Its Vital Third Season
In the spring of 1967, the most futuristic television show of its time appeared headed into a black hole of oblivion. Driving up Highway 99 through the Central Valley, in a Volkswagen Bug with two kids in the back seat and no air conditioning, John and Bjo Trimble vowed to go where no fans had […]
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, WITH AN EYE TO THE SKY FOR REALLY SPOOKY STUFF
With Halloween upon us, we look to the maybe not-as-friendly-as-we-thought skies for a good spooking. On October 30, 1938 – Halloween Eve – Orson Welles punk’d an entire nation with his “War of the Worlds” radio spoof. It remains to this day the most famous radio broadcast ever – even more famous than President Franklin […]
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: FUTURE PRESIDENT FED UNION TROOPS UNDER FIRE
On this day in 1862, Union commissary Sergeant William McKinley braved enemy fire to feed Union troops during the Battle of Antietam – the single bloodiest day on American soil – and earned the praise of Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes. McKinley, then just 19 years old and serving in the 23rd Ohio Volunteers, drove a […]
HOW SOME PAST PRESIDENTS SPENT THEIR PRESIDENTS DAY
Presidents keep on working on the national holiday that many U.S. citizens have off.
A Thirst for Equality: Dying Navy Veteran’s Story Resonates as Black History Month Lesson
One summer afternoon in the late 1950s, eight-year-old Phillip Willis, Jr. took a break from mowing lawns at a home in Jackson, Mississippi. Having worked up a thirst, Willis asked his employer, a white woman, for a glass of water. That simple and reasonable request required minimal physical effort on the woman’s part. Mainly, it required mere humanity and compassion for a young Black kid toiling in the stifling heat and humidity. She begrudgingly gave him the water, Willis said, along with a not-so-subtle reminder that he […]
WORLD WAR II ENDED 49 YEARS AGO TODAY FOR THE LAST JAPANESE STRAGGLER ON GUAM
To most everyone else on the planet, World War II formally ended on September 2, 1945, when representatives of the Japanese government boarded the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and signed the papers of surrender. One Japanese soldier on Guam, however, did not get the memo – or apparently any of the leaflets, or heard […]
MEET THE LINCs: ‘LINC’-ING VETERANS TO SERVICES REQUIRES NEW APPROACHES FOR CALVET’S EIGHT REGIONAL OUTREACH PROFESSIONALS
California’s nearly 1.6 million veterans share another common link – eight of them, in fact. The California Department of Veterans Affairs’ Local Interagency Network Coordinators, or LINCs, support veterans by connecting them to their earned benefits and services.
SEVEN ON CALVET’S MEDAL OF HONOR WALL ALSO EARNED DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS
Seven Californians received both the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross. Their names grace the Medal of Honor Hall in California’s Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in downtown Sacramento.
National Guard, America’s oldest fighting force, celebrates 383rd birthday December 13
The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps celebrated their respective 244th birthdays, 28 days apart, in October and November. The U.S. Army was born on June 14 of that same year, 1775. But no American fighting force can match the longevity of the National Guard, which turns 383 years old this week. “The National Guard […]
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