It is a sad paradox that while all wars are evil tragedies, yet so many individual combatants enter into battle armed with the most altruistic and humane hopes. This past Monday, I heard the story of one such fallen soldier who grew up in the village of Orleans, MA on Cape Cod.
My wife Lorraine and I had joined the townspeople for a powerfully moving service of remembrance in the Orleans’ Veteran’s Park. The Mayor reminded us that, unlike Veterans Day which honors those who have served, Memorial Day pays tribute to those fallen service men and women who made the ultimate commitment and paid the ultimate sacrifice. An elderly Coast Guard officer told the story of Alan, one of Orleans’ three heroes who had died in service of their country.
After graduating from Orleans High School, with the 19 other members of the class of 1938, Alan went to work in town. (The class picture showed only 16 of the class, four being absent due to a regional epidemic of mumps.) Within days of President Roosevelt’s announcing the attack on Pearl Harbor, Alan enlisted in the Navy and rose to the rank of Radioman First Class. From his ship’s position the northern Atlantic, Alan would transmit vital information to Allied convoys. Two years later a German submarine log records sighting and firing three torpedoes at Alan’s ship. Two torpedoes hit midships, sending Alan and all his 245 crewmates to their death. (Exactly how the Coast Guard officer came up with the German log notation, I find fascinating.)
Alan wrote no grand philosophic or patriotic essays, but a few recalled memories from friends and sentences in letters marked Alan’s reasons for going off to war. Unlike the traditional soldier’s hope for plunder or glory, Alan had mentioned that he believed it was his personal responsibility to serve and to protect his nation. A simple belief of one young man, indicating a truly heroic devotion. The Orleans Fire Department Chaplain gave a final prayer urging us, as Abraham Lincoln did following the battle of Gettysburg, to remember these fallen and honor them by rededicating our own lives. Just thought I would share this with you.
– Bart Jackson
Home Feature
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Enjoyable and enlightening show with hosts Jeanne Murphy and Chris Sobiesky of Weichert Realtors. My world in business and The CEO of Yourself. Getting down to the business of your more rewarding self. https://www.facebook.com/watch/live?ref=watch_permalink&v=1390001771471041
Book Review Monday Morning Musings Architecture, Architects by Allan Kehrt
Do you ever think about just what you are doing? Really think about it? As we race through our business daze in which swift decisions gain appreciation over thoughtful ones, data chokes out cogitation, devices are leaned on as lifelines, and action above all is heralded as The Answer, the art of gaining a stand-back, overall understanding grows increasingly elusive.
In 2003, twenty years after co-founding KSS Architects in Princeton, New Jersey, Allan Kehrt penned his first short essay inviting his partners and staff members to begin “thinking about why they were working so hard and why they were so passionate about their careers.” For the next nine years, every week Allan would climb the 300-foot ladder of perspective, gain insight, and distill that piece of wisdom into a succinct Monday Morning Musing. He’d then place a copy in each KSS team member’s mailbox. (Don’t you wish you had a CEO like that?)
Now Allan has collected 100 of these Musings for your benefit.
Each of these roughly 200-word essaylets is introduced with a one word title: Waste – Influence – Water – Sunlight – Personality – Wood – Roles – Clarity. Each, with elegant simplicity serves as a short fuse that leads to an explosion of personal pondering, and perhaps discovery. Allan’s Craft reminds us: “We need to know that it takes time to do things well…to empathize with those trying to solve problems created by others’ lack of attention…and to learn what it takes to make something of value.”
All of us, after all are architects – only our choice of designs and creations differ. And each reader will doubtless find a little delight and a hand-up in our search for purpose from the Musings of Allan Kehrt.
To get your copy, write info@bartsbooks.com 
Leader Readers
TV Host Dr. Dale Caldwell sharpens up his sense of humor to prepare for his latest episode of Entrepreneur State of Mind.
Join the fun – visit https://www.BartsBooks.com.
Work Wit
All Aboard – My elevator pitch is brilliantly clever. Trouble is, unless the elevator runs from Baltimore to Bangor, I can never finish it.
Biz Quiz: If an entrepreneur is shipped to a desert island and told she can take only one book – which will she choose?
Answer: How to Build a Canoe. www.BartsBooks.com
The Worth of Wealth – The more money you make, the more people are inclined to believe you deserve it.
Afterthought: No one quite believes that their own salary aptly reflects their own personal wroth, but that doesn’t stop us from slathering envious admiration on those pulling down a lot more bucks than ourselves.