Writings, Thoughts & Presentations

Constitution Day -September 17th

By Mark Lindberg, Mtn. View, CA – Nov. 2017 After half a dozen years of the ill-fated “Articles of Confederation” following the Revolutionary War, it became obvious that our new country required a stronger central government in lieu of the weakness and divisiveness of 13…

A Warm Christmas in North Dakota by Mark Lindberg

When the Christmas Season arrived in North Dakota, the weather is normally COLD! However, as with folks in Alaska, the weather is worn as a badge of courage. Residents knew how to dress, maintain their vehicles, and the kids safely travel to and from school…

The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944) by Mark Lindberg

Towards the end of 1944, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower felt that Hitler’s Third Reich was near collapse. For six months, a half dozen Allied Armies had driven from the beaches of Normandy to the German border. Since 1942, the Soviets had been slowly grinding…

Flying the Collings TF P-51-D Mustang(Toulouse Nuts) at Moffett (NUQ), CA in May 2017

For years, The Collins Foundation nationwide tour of historic WWII aircraft spends a week at the former Moffett NAS in Mountain View, CA. Half a dozen years ago, I purchased a flight in the Collins B-25. As a Jimmy Doolittle fan (“Thirty Seconds over Tokyo”)…

My Parents Have Lived the American Dream

What is your definition of the American Dream? Mine would be as follows: Accomplishing your personal and professional goals while making a contribution to others in a wider community and achieving financial independence. My parents were both born in the small town of Jamestown, North…

Teddy Roosevelt & Iraq

While Teddy Roosevelt was a social reformer, he was no dove on foreign policy. As Assistant Secretary of the US Navy, TR was a strong voice for preemptive war against Spain in 1898. Then he backed up that rhetoric by resigning and raising the Rough…

Freedom, Capitalism, Limited Government, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Freedom is an inalienable right of human beings Bible (Exodus) Magna Carta Declaration of Independence Bill of Rights Freedom is proportional to the control by an individual of ones life choices Capitalism is the natural result of people making free life choices with the…

A Century of noteworthy Presidential Quotes

Walk softly and carry a big stick – Theodore Roosevelt The world must be made safe for democracy – Woodrow Wilson Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery – Calvin Coolidge To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones…

Thanksgiving

Our unique American holiday celebrating a material abundance and the freedom to worship had an ironic beginning. One American colony incorporated socialism among the early Pilgrims and later suffered religious persecution. In 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth, MA suffered a disastrous economic founding. In what…

Bakken Boom

A recent trip to my birth state of North Dakota provided a perspective on this enormous oil boom. Initially a drilling site is selected and a “pad” is leveled. Often at least four wells are located on one pad. The exploration companies are drilling to…

World War I Century

It is challenging to mark the 100th Anniversary of WWI with an essay or OPED. However, it is also essential that people consider the how, why, and where of an event that killed over 15 million people and halted a “golden age” of technical progress. …

Happy Birthday American

238 years ago, a handful of citizens in Colonial America risked their “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” upon the REVOLUTIONARY idea that individuals (not governments) should have the freedom to control their destiny. These powerful ideals of liberty so brilliantly outlined in the Declaration of…

Memorial Day

The primary purpose of national holidays is usually to honor historic individuals and events. Nevertheless, we might consider a secondary role: Uniting a country that has become almost as polarized during the last few decades as a century and a half ago during the Civil…

Doolittle Raid

At the Beginning of 1942, America and its British ally were the underdogs fighting a two front world war. After losing Singapore (& Tobruk in N. Africa), Winston Churchill described 1942 as one of the darkest years in British history. The United States military was…

Operation Torch

An Uneasy Peace Prior to Pearl Harbor, there was an uneasy peace between the United States and the eventual WWII primary opponents of Germany and Japan. President Roosevelt had been overtly with Lend Lease, etc. helping Great Britain hold on against Nazi Germany since the…

A Half Century After JFK

On November 22, America remembered the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy; and like Pearl Harbor and 9-11, nearly everyone remembers where they were when the tragedy occurred. John F. Kennedy was the first President born in the 20th century, the youngest “elected”…

July 4,1863

Most Americans associate the first week in July with the Revolutionary War and Declaration of Independence. However, there were two other crucial events in American history during the first few days of July 1863 during the Civil War. Despite superior supplies and vast numbers of…

Charles A. Lindbergh & The Spirit of St. Louis (NYP)

On May 20, 1927 a 25 year old air mail pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh departed Roosevelt field in New York and flew a modified Ryan monoplane solo to Paris, France. The flight lasted only 33 hours, but Lindbergh had enough fuel to fly…

Operation Dynamo (May/June 1940)

It was late spring of 1940 when Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered Operation Dynamo and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, France. That decision and the weather cooperated to rescue over a third of a million mostly British troops…

A One Hundred Year Tribute to President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan achieved great milestones in spite of many obstacles. Prior to graduating from Eureka College, Illinois in the depth of the Great Depression, he worked as a lifeguard and saved 77 lives from drowning. Beginning with his several years as a radio sports announcer…