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
Bart Jackson
My Thanks to You Thanksgiving 2021
Life swirls on all about us unrelentingly. Perhaps it is the ceaseless exposure to television dramas, novels, and cinema that have us viewing our lives in a series of episodes. Events hurtle upon us – we struggle – face down the challenges, then it is over. Behind us. We move expectantly to a new chapter. But Life with Covid refuses to wrap up so neatly. In the fugue of our lives, this plague storms on as a dark, dominant theme, then gets pushed into the background as other dramas unfold and take center stage, capturing our attention. Couples unite, love triumphs, man’s inevitable inhumanity rages against our compassion…the layers of life pile on. Yet the plague keeps re-emerging, varying, but it never quite resolves. It remains one of several stubborn scowling characters, spurning all calls to exit, that we must push to the fringe of our thought. And, marvelously, we do just that!
This November 2021, I stand struck by the resiliency of the people around me. Be the gathering real or virtual, after a quick news swap of booster benefits and fears, the mood invariably shifts. Folks bubble with that verve of celebration. Hope is joyfully expressed to me constantly from masked mouths; and for the first time in too darn long, I listen to words of gratitude. Last year, I recall penning a post comparing our times with the Pilgims’ example of hopeful thanksgiving as they entered harsh winter with more than half of their numbers lost. It was meant as a plea to seek out whatever reeds of hope we each could muster. This year, I find that message as obsolete as diesel fuel for a Tesla.
With so many expectations shattered, we seem to be gathering up shiny realizations of thankfulness from the pieces. And that feeling of gratitude, I truly believe, is not limited to this man’s narrow experience. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Humankind’s unquenchable quest to celebrate with joyous thanksgiving defies circumstance, and is as innate and natural as any of our “inevitable” sins.
So this Thanksgiving, allow me to raise my glass to all of you harboring hope and gratitude. You raise our spirits as we face the next chapter, and we will pass it on.
Wishing you Every Success,
– Bart Jackson
#1 Bestseller
Bart Jackson’s second edition of CEO of Yourself – Getting Down to the Business of Your More Rewarding Life has hit the top of Amazon’s Best Seller in three categories as well as being listed in the top 50 in other Self-Help and Business categories. Tonight, Nov 12, Bart will be hosting a virtual book launch featuring a gathering of notable guests sharing their insights on this work and aspects of self-mastery…with many participating in a joyful roast of the author.
CEO of Yourself is available in hard copy and digital forms on Amazon.
Featured Book – In The Words of My Wife’s Husband
This is your Complete Sourcebook of Business Humor 
I Choose to Laugh
Recently, America has replaced Humor with Hate as its emotion of choice. We hate immigrants or those who hate immigrants. We pour forth our ire on anyone who offends feminists, or those who loathe feminists. Every new word or deed sets our wrath on edge, and ignites our short fuse to a tirade against “the other side.” With teeth clenched, we rant against a mindless virus – those setting up vaccines to fight the virus – and those not responding to the virus exactly as we know they should. (You know, those irresponsible/paranoid idiots.)
Disrespect has blossomed from an occasional noun to a frequent, very active verb. You’ve got to be ever on the watch against those who describe our race or one of those races we favor. They are most likely denigrating bigots – all of them.
And the media loves it. They fuel our rage and titillate our hate with tales of president past or current – and we angry supporters, in turn, fuel their circulation numbers. And when we lapse exhausted from disrespecting all of the above, we hunt in search of new targets worthy of our juggernauting enmity.
Now, I could give you my own rant about the danger of spewing venom within and without – how increase of destruction grows with what it feeds on, but you already know that. The addictive quick high of rage crashes the spirit into ruin – you don’t need me to tell you.
So why revel in this Hades of Hate? And no. Don’t you dare tell me that the devil (in the guise of divisive media or politicians or plague) makes us do it. Frankly, Scarlet, that just ain’t so. Their acts and words may instinctively prick your spirit and even spark some brief anger, but the choice to harden your heart and carry the scowl of hostility on into the day…That is your choice alone to make – and dispense with.
And the good news? More and more folks seem to be joining me in opting for humor. When my wife inspired me to pen & publish the joke-laden “Vax Envy Fight Song” about the Covid-19 inoculation process, and when my second-wisest counselor, Carol, asked me to make a series of laughable quips about our current circumstances, all of you greeted them with refreshing enthusiasm. And I will bet ten cents of my own money that America will rapidly turn the corner, nix the hate, and re-turn to our romance with humor. So allow me to invite you all to join me in this joyful trend. Set your search engine for something funny, some common, laughable point of humanity, and take it to heart. Then share it with a friend and watch her smile.
Wishing you every success,
Bart Jackson