High School Substitute Teaching During My Retirement Years

🍎 My Educator Statistics at the end of school year 2017 - 2018

🍎 Years as a substitute teacher: 13

🍎 Number of days worked as a substitute teacher: 885

🍎 Percent of school days worked: 38%

🍎 Overall average days worked: 2 days per week

🍎Number of schools worked: 3/4 of all high schools in WSFC

🍎Which school worked most: Reagan High School, 95%

🍎Number of teachers subbed for: 45 to 55 est.

🍎Number of opportunities to inspire students: 88,500
      (885 days times 100 students per day)

🍎Number of unique students in classrooms: 9,000-11,000 est.

🍎Number of invites to be the graduation commencement speaker: 1, 2011
        (honor of lifetime)

🍎My personal growth enabled by interacting with modern teenagers: Immense


Inducted into the Reagan High School Hall of Fame 2016  (an honor of a lifetime)

Advice

Dear Hollywood,

“Please stop making movies that glorify weaponry. The imagery of guns to empower serves to give ideas to some who are vulnerable as one way to become ???, whatever. Anytime you focus the camera lenses on a gun, you glorify the weapon above humanity. God created humanity, man created weaponry and weapons are not the answer. Help lead the way away from guns just like you helped with moving us beyond the, once, imagined glory of cigarette usage. This is one of many approaches to the problem of destruction to individuals in our current humanity.”

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ )
soldier 3, university student 4, corporate leader 32, high school substitute teacher 12, leadership coach 2, married 48, offspring 2, no meds 71

FLASHBACK!

Friend Dominick Bates, New York, found this photo in his scrapbook.  Thanks Dom for sending

me this copy.  My age was 19 when this picture was made 52 years ago.

First Name George

This day, February 11, 2018 is 99 years after the birth of George Mabe who is standing in the middle of two people with the same name in the picture below.  In 1919 George was born in a farm house beside Skylark Road in Pfafftown, North Carolina 27040. The old clapboard house has long ago been replaced by a brick, ranch style house and the former farm is called Twilight Acres.  George, the youngest of siblings, grew and helped his family sharecrop on several tobacco farms as they moved from one rent house to another in the vicinity.  Mabe promised himself that if he found another job, he’d never return to that way of life.  He found another job after serving in WWII.  At RJR he devoted his career to serving the cigarette company.  George on the right in the photo is the first of three offspring by the 1919 George.  The man adored his wife, loved his three children, and was salt of the earth throughout his life.  Faith in God, love of Jesus and the invisible Hand of the Spirit guided him throughout his years.  George standing on the left in the photo was born in Stokes County in 1878.  George on the right was born the City Hospital in Winston-Salem in 1947.

War and Peace

Perhaps you read this book in high school or maybe at the university, I did not.  During December 2017, I consumed the book, War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy.  587,287 words, 30 1/2 hours of concentrated listening to the narration by Neville Jason.  Wow! What a journey.  It’s the most eloquent word usage of any book I’ve encountered.  It is a long, long philosophical story about life in Russia during the period 1805-1812.  Listen to this 81 second clip of one notable point in Tolstoy’s own words by clicking below.

I think you might enjoy this audio clip from the Audible book "War and Peace, Volume 1" by Leo Tolstoy. You can listen to it here: http://a.co/eer0BNb

Human Behavior

Dear People with Resources or Power,

“Men’s and women’s reproductive organs are not playthings!  These appendages are not to be shared with just anyone.  Magazines, movies, drugs, and disco starting in the 1950’s and ‘60’s convinced many baby boomers to use these body parts and clever talk to tease and tempt others to get ahead in life.  Many people began to imitate the sexuality they saw in pictures of glossy printed magazine pages, in motion pictures, and in behaviors of others.  Many people grew up and accepted this behavior as a simple truth.  The actions spread like a disease.  This is, in part, the reason some men and women behave in the ways of today.  Look into the animal kingdom. You don’t see any animal species behaving like humans. Study the lions and the ants.  No species on earth engages in such reckless actions as do some modern men and some women.  Keep human reproductive organs behind fabric until it’s time to release waste or to reproduce.  I know, this is a foreign thought and hard to conceive in this epoch.”

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ )
soldier 3, university student 4, corporate leader 32, high school substitute teacher 12, leadership coach 2, married 48, offspring 2, no meds 70

Don't Be A Caveman

Dear Fellow Men and All Women,

“Some human males behave as a caveman, mostly interested in flesh not the soul inside another.  I have read about male behaviors that I consider like a cave-dweller. 

Men can wear business suits, sports costumes or ordinary work clothes, smile big, hold powerful positions, and possess resources.  They can also possess a lack of self-control, an unrestrained desire for beautiful people, and a disregard for the souls of others. 

I read one report by a chauffeur who overheard a young woman in the backseat of his car pleading, “please don’t hurt me” to the caveman who was coming onto her sexually.  Many women are reporting “metoo” about unwanted sexual advances by men.

My advice is this: Avoid 1:1 meetings in private with men no matter who the man and no matter a yearning to get ahead.  Do not put one’s soul at risk by being alone with a man in remote and secluded places.

Sex between modern humans should be planned, verbally agreed to, and with advance appointment times and designated places for the intended purpose so both parties knowingly want it, understood all the way to the particulars. 

Men, do not proceed down the pathway to sex without an appointment, even with one’s wife.”

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ )
soldier 3, university student 4, corporate leader 32, high school substitute teacher 12, leadership coach 2, married 48, offspring 2, no meds 70

Notes From the Speech by Mike Mabe

Doub’s Chapel United Methodist Church

5591 Seward Road, Pfafftown, NC 27040

Speech by Mike Mabe at God and Country Day

July 9, 2017  1830 hours

Thank you for asking me to speak on this special day where we praise God and celebrate this special place in the universe that we call … Country.

Doub’s Chapel occupies a special place in my heart.  First, because my grandfather, George Robert Mabe, and my grandmother, Dora Lineback Mabe  and one of their daughters, my aunt Alta Irene Mabe are laid to rest along the back row in this cemetery.  This Mabe family lived most, if not all, of their lives in the Seward/Pfafftown community.  Alta lived 84 of her 86 years with major physical and mental handicaps.  My grandparents were probably the poorest family in this area.  They spent their whole working lives as tenant famers and sharecroppers on various farms in this Zip Code area.  In their mid-seventies they still had no permanent lodging or a house of their own.  Around 1952 Malecta Doub Nance who lived at the corner of Seward Road and Seward Circle had sympathy and compassion for the Mabe family and gifted one acre of land to Alta who was in her thirties at that time.  The family then had one acre of ground they could then call theirs.  My father, his two brothers and a few other men built a small house on the plot at the end of Lineback Road which is now Silver Springs Road.  But, one neighbor denied them access to electricity.  The Mabe family lived for one year in their new home without electricity until another neighbor, Travis “Jack” Queen and his wife Christine Icenhour, allowed power lines to cross their land in a roundabout path to bring in electricity.  George Robert and Dora Lineback lived their last 6 to 8 years into their mid-eighties in the only house they could call their own. Alta lived out her next 38 years with siblings and eventually in assisted living facilities in Stokes County until she was laid to rest here in 2002.

Also, this church was the first to celebrate all veterans, including Vietnam veterans, when the late Eddie and Eunice Doub organized these God and Country Days beginning around 1985.  I know the late Ward Doub as well as some of you were also supporters back then.  So, Thank You!

I don’t know if you accept this notion.  It has been said:  “The Two Most Important Days in A Person’s Life: The Day You Were Born and the Day You Find Out Why”

The day I was born was February 7, 1947.  The day I found out  Why  was March 12, 1966. 

 I will tell you why I was born in a few minutes.

But first, on that day, March 12, 1966, I was involved in a one-on-one shoot out at close range with an enemy soldier.  He saw me first and allowed me to get within 30 feet and then began firing at me first.  There is no worldly reason for the Viet Cong soldier to have missed his target.

When I wore a military uniform, I served a tour of duty on the battlefields of South Vietnam.  Out of the 350 days in harm’s way, I said a prayer at least a hundred of those days.  I prayed the same words every time.  I looked up into the nighttime sky and asked God,  “Father, watch over me, keep me safe, allow me to grow up, to marry, and to have a family. Amen”

God stayed with me throughout that year and every day and year since then.  I was watched over and kept safe during some difficult soldiering.

For those of you who know me, you can verify that God answered my prayers.  He gave me everything I asked for in that Vietnam prayer and much, much more.  I can take very little credit for the way my life unfolded with a wonderful wife, 2 children, an education, a vocation, travel, substitute teaching in public high school, and all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.  My life has been a “magic carpet ride.”

Many people tell me that their veteran father, uncle, cousin won’t talk about their military service or battlefield experiences.  I like to talk about mine.  Young people, especially, want to hear accurate stories about the training we received and the places we served.  If you’re a veteran who doesn’t want to talk, I urge you to change your mind.  It will be therapeutic for you and informative to listeners.

So, why was I born?  I was born for the same reason you were…. to praise God and to love him will all my heart, mind, and soul and to love neighbors the same.

I was also born to accumulate my life experiences and to   meet you.        Why am I to meet you? 

So you can teach me a thing or two about “Life”.     And, perhaps, I can show you a thing or two.

Together, with God’s help, we will make it through this life    and one person at a time   we will enter heaven and be seated at the right hand of the Father   forever,  just like George Robert, Dora Lineback, Alta Irene and yes, also with Malecta Nance, and Jack & Christine Queen, those neighbors who had compassion and kindness for the poorest among them.

I believe in the promises of Jesus!

Thanks be to God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit
Amen

Click on photos to enlarge

               George, Dora, and Alta are buried at
            Doub's Chapel cemetery, back row

                            5591 Seward Road, Pfafftown, NC 27040

                   Travis & Christine Queen are buried at
Forsyth Memorial Park

                      3771 Yadkinville Rd. Winston-Salem, NC 27106          
    Section 14-A, Plot 54

                      Malecta Nance is buried in the cemetery at

             Elm Grove United Methodist Church

                        7240 Reynolda Road, Pfafftown, NC 27040

                                  

Active Duty

Dear FaceBook & Instagram friends who are 1/3 to 1/2 my age and serving in military uniform on active duty:

"Please know that I think of you often and pray for you during my quiet contemplations.  I know what it's like to wear a uniform and be in harm's way.  When I was there, I stayed in quiet contemplation with the One who created me and am certain that my strength and endurance throughout were derived from that connection.  My comrades and our leaders performed amazing feats in the combat zones and my participation with them impacted me for the rest of my life.  My life has been enriched beyond imagination and I am so satisfied by my experiences in uniform.  I hope you will feel the same when you're my age.  In the meantime, do your job well and work hard to grow in all aspects of duty, family, and country.  As I continue to wear my original and only set of dog tags, know that this veteran is so proud of you and so greatly appreciates your sacrifices.  I will continue my prayers in support of you and pay my taxes in full without complaint."

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ )
soldier 3, university student 4, corporate leader 32, high school substitute teacher 11, leadership coach 2, married 47+, offspring 2, no meds 70

Preconceived Notions

Dear Facebook & Instagram Friends Who Are 1/4 to 1/2 My Age:

"I love to have my mind changed.  When I hold preconceived notions that turnout to be wrong, there is enlightenment which makes me feel good inside.  This happened to me again recently when I visited New Orleans for the first time.  I went there with low opinions based on jokes I'd heard, word of mouth reports, news, and tv news of hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.  After spending 88 hours on the ground there, meeting, interacting, and engaging with many native people, I completely changed my mind about the place and its people.  This will happen throughout your life as reality is introduced to your imagination.  So my message to you is to remain humble about people and places until you have witnessed their point of view firsthand.  Often, it will be impossible for you to have insights or understand another's place or POV.  In all instances don't be judgmental."

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ )
soldier 3, university student 4, corporate leader 32, high school substitute teacher 11, leadership coach 2, married 47+, offspring 2, no meds 70

A Final Salute

L to R, Alex McMillian, Mike Mabe, David Taylor, and Joe Idol of Chapter 638 Military Order of the Purple Heart rendered a final salute to a 91 year-old veteran last Tuesday.  Inside the Kernersville church, one by one each man reverently approached the flag-draped casket, eased to the position of attention, passed through the motions of a slow salute,  then moved unnoticeably out of the sanctuary as the deceased's family and friends looked on.  An honor to participate in the memorial service.

Latest Book Read

consumed each word and processed every sentence by sight and hearing to the best of my ability in the book,
Xcellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite & the way to a Meaningful Life
by William Deresiewicz, 2015, 256 pages

Watched This Movie

watched the movie Apocalypse Now: Redux 2001.  This revived classic contains around 50 minutes more film than the original in 1979.

Don't stop. Keep improving.

Dear Readers Who Are 1/4 to 1/2 My Age:

"One rule-of-thumb suggests most people should spend 3% of their annual disposable income on instructional activities to advance personal growth and professional development.  Consumption of books, attendance at seminars and conferences, completion of classes, or enrollment in online courses are examples of ways to stay abreast of changing times. If one's income after taxes is $30,000, for example, the rule implies that $900 should be spent on activities to stay up-to-date.  The point is this:  Your diploma is just the beginning of the learning needed to stay satisfied to contribute to your family and to society.  Decide what your per annum spending should be for your personal growth and professional development until you're my age and beyond."

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ )
soldier 3, university student 4, corporate leader 32, high school substitute teacher 11, leadership coach 2, married 47+, offspring 2, no meds 70.

Finished Reading

Mabe consumed each word and processed every sentence to the best of his ability in the book, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back by Janice P. Nimura, 2015, 352 pages.

My Educator Statistics

🍎 My Educator Statistics at the end of school year 2015-16

🍎 Years as a substitute teacher: 11

🍎 Number of days worked as a substitute teacher: 800

🍎 Percent of school days worked: 40%

🍎 Overall average days worked: 2 days per week

🍎Number of schools worked: 3/4 of all high schools in WSFC

🍎Which school worked most: Reagan High School, 95%

🍎Number of teachers subbed for: 40 to 50 est.

🍎Number of opportunities to inspire students: 80,000
      (800 days times 100 students per day)

🍎Number of unique students in classrooms: 8,000-1,0000 est.

🍎Number of invites to be the graduation commencement speaker: 1, 2011
        (honor of lifetime)

🍎Total compensation received from WSFC: $62,000

🍎My personal growth enabled by interacting with modern teenagers:      Immense

Books read last four years 2013 - 2017

The End of Power
 by Moises Naim, 2013, 320 pages

The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
by Steven Pinker, 2011

Gang Leader For A Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets
by Suhir Venkatesh, 2008

On Immunity: An inoculation
by Eula Biss, 2014

Creativity, Inc: Overcoming The Unseen Forces That Stand In The Way Of True Inspiration
by Edwin Catmull with Amy Wallace, 2014

50th Anniversary Edition, 2012, of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,
by Thomas S. Kuhn, 1962

Rational Ritual: Culture, Coordination, and Common Knowledge
by Michael Suk-Young Chwe, 2013

Dealing With CHINA: An Insider Unmasks The New Economic Superpower
by Henry M. Paulson, Jr., 2015

The Beginning of Infinity, Explanations That Transform the World
by David Deutsch, 2011

Orwell's Revenge, The 1984 Palimpsest
by Peter Huber, 1994

The New Jim Crow
by Michelle Alexander, 2012

The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History
by Ibn Khaldun, 2015, 512 pages

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari, 2015

The Player of Games (A Culture Novel Book 2)
by Iain M. Banks, 1988

Energy: A Beginner's Guide
by Vaclav Smil, 2006

GENOME: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
by Matt Ridley, 1999

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature
by William James, 2015


Portfolios Of The Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day
by Daryl Collins, Jonathan Morduch, Stuart Rutherford, Orlanda Ruthven,
2009

*The Go-Giver : A Little Story About A Powerful Business Idea
by Bob Burg & John David Mann, 2007


*The Alchemy of Air
by Thomas Hager, 2008


*The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho, 1998, 208 pages


*Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
by Bryan Stevenson, 2014, 368 pages


FACTORY MAN: How one furniture maker battled offshoring, stayed local-and helped save an American town
by Beth Macy, 2014, 496 pages


*Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
by Betty Edwards, 2012


*Bitter Tongues, Buried Treasures: The Fascinating Life of Colonel Martin Van Mabe
by Dr. Daniel Merritt, 2015


*The Man Who Moved A Mountain
by Richard C. Davids, 1970, 268 pages


*Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well
by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen, 2014, 364 pages


*Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
by Erik Larson, 2015, 480 pages


*In The Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeanette
by Hampton Sides, 2014, 480 pages


*DEROS for the Undefeated by Dr. Buzz Harrison 2015


*The Five-Fold Effect
Unlocking Power Leadership for Amazing Results in Your Organization
by Walt Pilcher,  2013, 254 pages


*The Tail that Wags the Dog
by Max J. Myers, 2009, 256 pages


*The Startup Hats
by David Gardner,  2014, 210 pages

*Prompts - a collection of stories
by Tank Gunner

*Deer Hunting With Jesus, Dispatches From America's Class War
by Joseph L. Bageant, 2007, 288 pages

*Danger Close: My Epic Journey As A Combat Helicopter Pilot in Iraq And Afghanistan
by Amber Smith 2016, 288 pages

*Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, by Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2013, 544 pages


*The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton 1948, reprinted in 1998 Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, 445 pages



*Sharecropper’s Wisdom: Growing Today's Leaders the Old Fashioned Way by General J. R. Gorham, 2016, 220 pages


*Truevine: Two Brothers, A Kidnapping, And A Mother’s Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South by Beth Macy, 2016, 427 pages


*Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis, by J. D. Vance, 2016, 257 pages


*No Excuses: The Power of Self-Disciple
by Brian Tracy, 2009  304 pages
6hrs 56 min


*Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE
by Phil Knight 2016  383 pages
Narration by Norbet Leo Butz
13 hrs 21 min


*Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World
by Adam Grant 2016  336 pages
10 hours


Elon Musk: Tessa, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance, 2015, 400 pages


The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, 2016, 224 pages


Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley by Antonio Garcia Martinez, 2016, 528 pages

The One Thing: The Surprising Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary RESULTS by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan, 2013, 240 pages

The Populist Explosion: How The Great Recession Transformed American And European Politics by John B. Judis, October 2016, 184 pages


Never A Dull Moment: 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth, 2016, 286 pages

My Father's Day Message

My father was my best friend for 41 years. No other earthly being came close to that status until those number of years was exceeded by my love and marriage to Doreen. My father wrote me a letter 5 days a week for a year while I was in Vietnam. When I returned and he saw me, he hugged me and held the embrace for an extended time. I'll never forget that hug in the parking lot at his workplace. My father told me often, "Son, open your heart and let Jesus in." I would usually respond with, "I know, I know". What I didn't know is why he didn't know Jesus was already there and working out His will as long as I remained obedient. I know the outcomes of God's will are still being worked out in my life and I thank my dad for his urgings, his example, support, and friendship for as long as his time lasted.

A Proud Combat Veteran of the Vietnam War

Quote

💡Quote by Mike Mabe💡

“If I could be granted only one wish, my request would not be fame or fortune.  My only wish would be to have instant recall of name and face of everyone I've met throughout life when sighted later.”

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ ) soldier 3, university student 4, corporate manager 32, high school substitute teacher 11, leadership coach 1, married 46+

Another Quote

 💡Quote by Mike Mabe💡

“Jesus commanded people to love one another.  Many American people decided to look at others naked, lay with others, suckle or penetrate another's body part, and call these love.  The Messiah said, "love as I have loved you."”

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____ ) soldier 3, university student 4, corporate manager 32, high school substitute teacher 11, leadership coach 1, married 46+

💡An Anniversary Report💡

Today, July 31, 2015, marks the passing of ten years since I voluntarily quit a wonderful career job of 32.5 years in corporate management at Hanes and several operating units of Sara Lee Branded Apparel.  I was age 58 in 2005 with no future plan.  I told some superiors and colleagues that, “I would start a new life.”  I didn’t know what that meant and neither did they.  After my last day, Doreen and I sat in our den and discussed the future.  She put forth a new suggestion and I acted upon her idea.  Now, 750 days of high school substitute teaching throughout ten years have been complete. That’s 42% of the 1800 school days or an average of 2 days per school week.  This decade has been wonderful beyond imagination.  I have met and become friends with teachers, staff, and some parents of students.  The best part has been interacting with thousands of unique teenagers in the classrooms.  As a sub, I am with approximately 100 students per day.  During ten years, that computes to 75,000 (750 X 100) hits or opportunities to make an impression as an advertiser would say in computer or Internet jargon.  The same number of impressions were exerted upon me by the students.  Those two way interactions made me a better person and I treasure the experiences.  I often hear retirees say, “I’m going to spend time with my children or grandchildren”.  I think to myself, I’m spending quality time with many children and numerous grandchildren beyond my own and have gained insight into the potentials and abilities of modern young people.  My conclusion is that the majority of today’s teenagers are better people than the majority in the generation when I grew up.  That means the future is brighter today than yesterday if power is transferred to younger people. The sooner the power shifts, the better in my opinion. 

The workload described above has enabled Doreen and me to travel extensively throughout the United States and in a few other countries.  We postponed or deferred no trips and unleashed travel plans that amaze family, friends, and even Doreen and me.  We have met total strangers on trips or cruises and engaged in interesting conversations with them and enjoyed the times and places in the moments. We've grown from those encounters with people from other places.

I don’t know what the next ten years will be like, but I’m excited about the future.  I will approach it as always by trustingly acting upon what the Lord has planned.  He has been planner and enabler and deserves all the honor and glory for the good in my life.  As I glance into the rear view mirror of my life, I’m amazed at where I’ve been and the experiences that have happened.  But, as a good friend tells me with this metaphor:  "Business leadership is like a school bus driver, the leader must keep an eye on the riders (employee concerns) through the rear view mirror, but the road ahead is important too."  Life is similar, the road ahead is important and I should not rely too much on my experiences of the past.  Have a good day!


Mike Mabe (1947 -     )
soldier 3, corporate manager 32, high school substitute teacher 10, executive leadership coach

💡Ponder This Quote💡

“Voices and speeches are but sound bites. Articles, books and documentaries are only tweets of the full story.  Truth, happiness, love, and joy are always found in individual perspective under any circumstance."

Mike Mabe (1947 -     )

soldier 3, corporate manager 32, high school substitute teacher 10, executive leadership coach 

Latest Quote

Violence stems from attitude

Peace stems from attitude

Attitude stems from the mind

Mind is where choices are made

Violence and peace are choices

Always choose peace

Mike Mabe (1947 - ____) soldier, corporate manager, substitute teacher

Commencement Speech

Click here to watch the commencement speech to the 2011 class of Ronald Reagan High School
on June 11, 2011 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Ronald Reagan HS Commencement Speech 2011 by Mike Mabe     

Keynote Address at Alpha Troop Reunion

Alpha Troop Alumni Association is comprised of veterans of Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division.  This unit was created in 1963 and has been active since that year.  The troop has served in every war since Vietnam.  The association was formed in the early 1990's and has a reunion every two years.

Watch the keynote address at the 2013 reunion in San Diego.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D24mXaEK75M

Have a good week!

First Bald Eagle

I sighted a bald eagle between Pfafftown and Tobaccoville this morning. This is a first for me in this area. At 10:30 AM on Tobaccoville Road in front of the Grange Hall. The rare bird was flying over the road about a hundred to a hundred-fifty feet high. He was very visible and recognizable. 

Slide Show Of Norway

Open the link below to see a slide show of 70 pictures and 5, 30 second videos of our tour in Norway in July 2012.  The videos will start automatically when their slides are arrived at in the show.  Use your page-up or page-down keys to move from slide to slide.  PowerPoint is needed on your system and the file will be downloaded to your computer for viewing.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1473922/Norway%20Pictures.pptx

Have a good week!

A Memorial Day Idea

The highlighted letter to the editor appeared in the Winston-Salem Journal on Sunday, May 27, 2012 on page A24.

Click on the picture to enlarge

This idea works anytime.

The thank you letter from John Railey, Editorial Page Editor

Another Quote

"If voting outcome is unacceptable,   then force or bully the desired reform."

Mike Mabe (1947 - ___) soldier, corporate manager, substitute teacher

New Quote

"Executive pay is the taproot of business leadership decay and the leading cause of disappearing jobs in early 21st century United States."

Mike Mabe (1947 - ___) soldier, corporate manager, substitute teacher

Another Original Quote

"Time passes so fast most people cannot record a diary during their life journey."

Mike Mabe (1947 - ___) soldier, corporate manager, substitute teacher

An Unbeknownst Photo Surfaces

Picture taken on March 12, 1966 of Mabe when he returned to his unit from the field hospital after being wounded.  The unbeknownst photo came forth 45 years later.  Mabe appears to be in shock from the combat of the day.

The photograph is a treasure.  When family members gathered around to see, the mood was quiet amazement.  When the image was projected onto a wide-screen in a high school classroom, the class became stone silent as each student’s eyes widened.  It took several moments for the students to absorb the figure and realize the image in the picture and the teacher standing in front of them are the same person.  They listened intently as I described how the photograph emerged.

I received this valuable while attending the Alpha Troop reunion in Nashville in May 2011. Dominick Bates from Albany, New York whom I hadn’t seen or corresponded with since we served together on the ground in first squad, first platoon of Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam during 1966.

 

Bates presented to me the photograph which was made on March 12 of that year.  That day I was wounded while on foot-recon patrol in the countryside around Tuy Hoa.  After the close-action small arms firefight and a Huey medevac flight to a Mash-like field hospital, I returned to my unit.   The close-up photo of me lying on the ground shows a shocked nineteen-year-old paratrooper.  The photo had been in Bates’ scrapbook for forty-five years.   May 2011 was Bates’ first reunion, which he learned about from a telephone message on his answering machine.  He and I along with our wives are new friends and stay in touch by email and telephone.

One never knows what treasure will come from a reunion of combat veterans.  Expect the unexpected and look forward to pleasant interaction with past acquaintances when you attend a reunion.  Expect to meet and enjoy the fellowship of other Alpha Troop veterans.  You never know how your presence will benefit others or how someone you knew in war will uplift you with spoken words, expressed memories, or mementos like an old photo.

Contact your buddies or track down lost comrades. Urge them to meet you at the Alpha Troop reunion in San Diego in May 2013.