[summerstormpictures]

Well, it is June 6th again and events some sixty-three years ago come back to remind us of the sacrifices made by so many on a sandy beach across the ocean. A friend of mine named Joe (his real name) was there. He didn't "storm the beach" but was there in an observer capacity, which was really a ploy, because he was involved in what would later be called "black ops." He was officially in the 1st Marines, but after the landing at Normandy, he advanced well beyond the lines and eventually contacted and was working with some of our people in still-yet Nazi occupied Paris, where his rank and anything else was of course a secret. He was working with the French resistance there when the Allies began to arrive in Paris, and in true Joe style, he decided he was going to "liberate" the Nazi flag fluttering above the Gestapo headquarters, which he did and I have seen and held the flag. It's strange to feel the fabric and even as a writer, I cannot accurately describe that tactile moment accurately -- or the smell which while having picked up the smell of long-time storage, still had a unique and alien smell to it. Joe left the Marines a "full bird" Colonel as he would often say. He later volunteered for Korea and of course "did other things" he still can't talk about and doesn't like to think about. He used to describe himself as "the last real son-of-a-#####" in his gruff loud voice that still shakes the walls and commands authority.

Sometimes when we would sit and talk -- which meant he talked, I listened, he would ultimately let down his guard and say that "all war does is rob a country of its youth." He had a right to say things like that because he served and watched soldiers under his watch make the ultimate sacrifice.

He also had a curious link to Star Trek as he would often run into Gene Roddenberry because they both had the same doctor back in the 1980's.

Joe was also Lakota Sioux, having grown up on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. His first American name is Joe Eaglefeather. Today I think of the people like Joe I have been privileged to know in my unique life. I am fortunate to know him.