Our itinerary is simple: enjoy a hotel room with a view, walk streets that remind of old Amsterdam, poke into the small shops, and dine along the river. — We live in a rural area on the Polish Baltic coast. It’s a charming quiet place, but sometimes we need to escape. So, we, the country mice, make our quarterly trek to a city in Poland to mingle with the city mice. This time our pick was to return to…

Observing the Polish Traditions of All Saints’ Day. — This year on Halloween, I spent the afternoon and night walking through Polish cemeteries. Not looking for ghost or goblins or even a treat. Rather, I was out to observe and photograph the Polish traditions of All Saints’ Day. That day falls on November 1st. The night before, of course…

A tale from the Baltic Sea — The old woman walks the harbor on a crisp fall night, the Baltic sea sparkling in the moon shining bright. Tap tap tap goes her cane across the weir, alone she is with no other peer. She faces north by habit alone, guided by sound of sea against the stone…

The Pillars of Hercules create conditions that bring the action of kite surfing to the beaches of Tarifa, Spain — October 2022 — The Pillars of Hercules stand over the Straits of Gibraltar and their presence made for a wonderful afternoon in Spain. But not for the reasons one would think. Two major features stand as the pillars at the straits, the Rock of Gibraltar on the north side and…

My time with the 1st Marine Division in Al Anbar in 2004. In early 2003, the 1st Marine Division lead the assault into Iraq with the mission to take Baghdad. It was a mission they accomplished with the usual United States Marine Corps flair. A straightforward charge up the middle…

A damaged factory is a symbol of the challenges facing the United States Marines and the Iraqi government in 2004 — April 2004 — The super phosphate plant sits in the desert like a mighty beached ship, rusting away in the pale noonday sun. It was once the symbol of progress and the crown jewel of Saddam’s state-owned industrial system and supplied fertilizer to the entire country. Now it is a…

We take a weekend visit to Warsaw where once again we are reminded of what war can do to a city. And, how it can be rebuilt and reborn. — A few weeks ago, my wife and I made a trip to Warsaw. She is from there and we were both looking to escape from the rural country village of Bydlino, our home for the last few years. Warsaw is a four and half hour train ride from the nearby…

War, an element of the human condition, has existed throughout time, and though the tools of warfare have changed, the strategic rules for a successful campaign have not. Mr. Putin has ignored those rules and is suffering the consequences. — It is now week three of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian. A war started by Mr. Putin has become a war that he is destined to lose. A thoughtful analysis of Mr. Putin’s goals leads one to conclude that he intended to flood Ukraine with overwhelming firepower, freeze the Ukrainian…

It wasn’t a group of people, but a place — May 2004 — We called it the Fallujah Liaison Team (FLT). It wasn’t a group of people, but a place. A small walled compound outside the main Marine Corps base near the City of Fallujah. It was along Route 10, just south of the Jordanian Hospital. …