About Me

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I am a lifelong student of military history with particular interest in the Battle of Antietam. I work for the federal government in Washington DC and have two young adult children who I love very much. I currently volunteer at Antietam and devote much time to the study of this battle and the Maryland Campaign. I enjoy collecting notable contemporary quotations by and about the men of Antietam. Since 2013 I have been conducting in depth research on the regular artillery companies of the Union Army and their leaders. I hope to turn this into a book on this subject in the future. My perspective comes from a 28-year career in the U.S. Army. Travels took me to World War II battlefields in Europe and the Pacific where American valor ended the tyranny of Nazism and Empire. But our country faced its own greatest challenge 80 years earlier during the Civil War. And it was the critical late summer of 1862, when Robert E. Lee launched the Maryland Campaign. It is an incredible story of drama, carnage, bravery, and missed opportunities that culminated around the fields and woodlots of peaceful Sharpsburg MD. So join me as I make this journey South from the North Woods.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Marine Corps is 236 Today. Thanks to one Marine in Particular

Lance Corporal Jim Rosebrock
Today is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps and tomorrow is Veteran's Day.  I am particularly proud of one Marine today.  That is my son Jim who has now been serving proudly in the Corps for over one year.  Jim attended his first Marine Corp's birthday party last weekend and the photo here shows him with some of his comrades at the party.  Jim, now a lance corporal, keeps the AV-8B Harrier II jump jets flying in Marine Attack Squadron 513 (VMA-513) stationed Marine Corps Air Station - Yuma Arizona.  Many of Jim's fellow Marines in the 513th are returning from a deployment in Afghanistan. 

Several of Jim's high school friends that I know serve now.  One is a United States Army Ranger enroute to a deployment of his own after Thanksgiving, and another is finishing up boot camp at Parris Island.  Another will be commissioned as Army lieutenant out of ROTC next spring.  Five years ago, I took these boys to the Boy Scout Philmont Camp in New Mexico.  Now they proudly serve their nation.

To those who have little positive to say about the young of this generation, I say look at men like Jim who are laying it on the line everyday.  As an old paratrooper, I know that they have learned the same lesson that I did many years ago - that the best in life is earned, not handed to you.

Lets not forget our veterans this weekend -  all the soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coast guardsman who put it on the line every day for us.  If you see one thank one.  And better yet, don't just do it on Veteran's Day.  Go out of your way to make every day Veteran's Day. 
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