(11.6) WaterFire announces the 9th annual WaterFire Salute to Veterans, a full lighting this Saturday honoring Rhode Island’s veterans and active duty military personnel from all service branches. The lighting will begin at 5:50 p.m. in Waterplace Park with a 100 torch salute and performance by Rhode Island Professional Firefighters Pipes and Drums. The torch …
Last year we featured the side of this memorial dedicated to the women of World War II. This year we feature the men’s side with each branch of the armed services represented in combat dress. From Military OneSource: Combat or “working” uniforms are more informal and easier to move in. They are most often made …
Although the Armistice between the allies of World War I and Germany had been signed at roughly 5am on November 11th, the ceasefire was delayed until 11am. This poetic symmetry has been a boon to headline writers, but during that five hour gap the generals continued the fighting just because. The last soldier killed in …
In July of 1861 Rhode Island native Major Sullivan Ballou wrote home to his wife Sarah for the final time. He was killed a week later at the First Battle of Bull Run. Both Sarah and Sullivan Ballou are buried in Swan Point Cemetery. The letter reads in part: Sarah my love for you is …
(11.28) Sebastian Unger, author of The Perfect Storm and War, will host a screening and discussion of the National Geographic documentary “Hell on Earth.” In the new documentary Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS from National Geographic Documentary Films, filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested meticulously identify the forces that led to the …
(11.11) Meet ceramist and Gulf War veteran Ehren Tool, a U.S. Marine from 1990 to 1994 and currently in the Ceramic Department at UC Berkeley. This is from his artist statement at The National Veterans Art Museum. Peace is the only adequate war memorial. All other war memorials are failures at best and are usually …
(7.16) Tonight’s Movie on the Block is the 1963 Steve McQueen vehicle “The Great Escape.” Look, a little suspension of disbelief is required here, but it’s a good choice for an outdoor summer night. On the other hand, NYT reviewer Bosley Crowther refused to be manipulated into enjoying himself. But nobody is going to con …
(6.8) Operation Stand Down Rhode Island brings the Vietnam Wall replica — an 80-percent scaled replica of the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C. — to India Point Park where it will remain until 3pm, on Sunday, June 8th. The display of the 300 foot wall, known as the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) Traveling Wall …
Not a care in the world. We should force all future presidents, all members of Congress, and all Cabinet members, to watch an Errol Morris double-feature: “The Fog of War” and “The Unknown Known.” From the New York Times review, Unlike Robert S. McNamara, another former defense secretary who sat for a portrait in front …
Animation fans and WWII aviation buffs alike will be drawn to Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-nominated film, “The Wind Rises” — his first feature directorial effort in five years. According to the Los Angeles Times the film has already stirred controversy back in Miyazaki’s native Japan. In stark contrast to Miyazaki’s fantasy-based animated family movies such as …
This is how it was done and it was weeks before they had any details. Meanwhile their other son was over there as well. My father had lost an eye and was awarded the Purple Heart. Both brothers returned home.
Writer of the ProJo Veterans Journal, George Reilly, provides an interesting history of the Memorial Day holiday and how it came to be. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and was celebrated in response to the unprecedented carnage of America’s Civil War in the early 1860s. Some 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers lost their …
The Bell Gallery will hold an opening reception for the American premier of Iraqi-American artist Wafaa Bilal’s The Ashes Series on Friday, April 5th at 5:30pm. The Ashes Series is composed of ten photographs of models constructed by the artist over a period of ten years documenting the aftermath of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This series …
Much commentary and analysis will mark the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War, and while Vice-President Cheney insists he would do it all over again, most of us would consider our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq a veritable blueprint for how not to do anything ever. But as we try to learn the lessons of …
Remember when the sons of privilege considered it an honor and a duty to fight for their country? This arch on the Brown campus is flanked by two large panels filled with the names of students and faculty who died serving their military in foreign wars, many as privates and sergeants. Today we have what’s …
Without comment, just thought folks would be fascinated by the office’s logo, as noted by Spencer Ackerman today.