I will be off to Washington DC next month on an excursion strictly for veterans to participate in what has been designated as an “Honor Flight” for those who served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
The program was created some years ago and even provided airfare for those living on the West Coast and living too far to make a trip to the nation’s capital by vehicle. That is where it got its name “Honor Flight” and in my bailiwick, that would be “Honor Flight Philadelphia.”
I was escorted from my home by a Uber driver for the first time in my life when I learned the Veterans Administration provides the service free for disabled veterans.
The month of January will always bring a sad feeling when I recall what happened on the first day of the year in 1953 to one of the greatest Country and Western singers of all time.
Hank Williams died of a heart attack while traveling in the back seat of a vehicle enroute to a performance he never was given by Fate to accomplish. He was only 29 years old, but had provided more than many lifetimes to the wonderful world of music.
I’m a city-boy from the Philadelphia region but was exposed to his unique sound by my mother who was raised on a New Jersey farm and introduced her children to Hank through what were called “33 and 1.3” or LP albums. (Long Playing – 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute.) The music made me happy and a little sad particularly when I listening to a song “Kaw-Liga.” Give a listen to the lyrics:
“Kaw-Liga was a wooden Indian, standin’ in the door
He fell in love with an Indian maid, over at the antique store
Kaw-Liga, ooh
Just stood there, and never let it show
So, she could never answer yes or no”
—————
Poor ol’ Kaw-Liga, he never got a kiss
Poor ol’ Kaw-Liga, he don’t know what he missed
Is it any wonder, that his face is red?
Kaw-Liga, you poor ol’ wooden head.
———–
“Hey Good Lookin,’ What You Got Cookin?”
Of course, he is remembered more readily by songs such as “Cold Cold Heart,” “Hey Good Lookin,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “I Can’t Help It, If I’m Still in Love with You.,” “You Win Again,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “You Win Again” and “Jambalya (On the Bayou.)”
My favorite singer of all time, Bobby Darin, sang a Hank Wiliams song during the last showing of his television variety show in 1973. It was called “Lonesome Whistle.”
Here’s a list of some of the other artists who sang his songs: Frankie Laine, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Bill Haley and his Comets, Tony Bennett, Jimmie Rodgers, Del Shannon, Johnny Burnette, Andy Williams, Roy Orbison, Ricky Nelson, Jack Scott, Guy Mitchell, Rosemary Clooney, Dinah Washington, Fats Domino and the Rolling Stones.
Next time you’re in Cleveland, Ohio, check out the Rock & Roll Hall Fame. Hank Williams was inducted into the group in 1987 and there is a colorful picture of him just as you enter. He was also inducted into the Rockabily Hall of Fame in 2023, the 100th anniversary of his death.
(Click on the blue-colored songs for Kaw-Liga and Lonesome Whistle to hear them offered on You-Tube.)
Was the 2024 presidential election rigged somehow by some unsavory characters with a history of such actions from the last presidential election?
I don’t know. But I wouldn’t put it pass some Republicans who tried to steal the election away from Biden and Harris in 2020. They may have perfected some of their dastardly ways and avoided media coverage but possible further investigation by my former journalism buddies who – like me – may sense that something just doesn’t seem right about this election.
I cast my ballot today for the 2024 election in the United States in the hopes and joyful expectations that Kamala Harris will win and be declared president.
Those are the words that sprung from my heart and soul as I took in what the jury provided the entire world with their unanimous decision to convict a former USA president.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia, of which I worked for 20 years as a public defender, is celebrating its 90th year of representing poor defendants today!
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
That is what Mark Twain wrote in a cablegram he sent from Europe to a newspaper publisher in the United States that had published an obituary with false details of his death in a widely circulated newspaper one day more than a hundred years ago.
I am saying the same thing right now in the year 2024!
While getting together all taxable income documents for 2023 to file with the IRS, I came across something that is quite amazing. The Social Security System keeps a list of all earnings you ever made starting with the first time you ever worked.
Former US Lieutenant Michael J Contos and Captain John S Han, USN
You never know when an action from your past may catch up to you and remind you of what you once did in your previous life.
Take, for instance, my attendance last week at a Veterans Ceremony in Plymouth Township, which borders my hometown of Conshohocken, PA. They honored veterans who served in the municipality by placing their names in a brochure while a full-fledged US Navy Captain spoke at a memorial.
Our Supreme Court is the worst judicial tribunal since the United States’ highest judiciary ruled in 1856 that blacks were not and could not be citizens.
Yes, Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney has gone down in history for his ruling in Dred Scott v. John Sanford. It stated that a black man had no rights under the Constitution and that the Founders’ words in the Declaration of Independence, “all men were created equal’ were never intended to apply to blacks.
The name change has finally occurred, and I am happy to report that every US Army base where I was stationed has had its Confederate Army soldier’s name removed and replaced with more admirable names.
That’s the word that everyone in the United States can call four of the Proud Boys who were found guilty by a jury of their peers for taking part in the insurrection conducted in the Capital on Jan. 6, 2021. They reached the verdict on 31 of 46 counts following seven days of deliberation in Washington DC and nearly 15 weeks of courtroom proceedings.
Fox News should be curtailed on all military bases and facilities to prevent men and women in uniform to be lied to about stories and events shaping our nation, particularly the political world around us.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of when the Vietnam War finally ended. A Peace Accord was reached on January 27, 1973, making way for the complete removal of all troops by March 29th of the same year.
Many of us remember the chaotic pictures of persons trying to flee Saigon on the last day reminding me of the chaos that erupted when the United States ended The Afghanistan War on August 2021. The Vietnam War was America’s longest war ever until Afghanistan overtook it. Both wars became highly unpopular and some believe that politics had a lot to do with both battlefronts.
Fifty years ago the Vietnam War finally ended, but for many like myself, it feels like it was only yesterday.
Voting has been made easier for many of us in Pennsylvania and the state provides links for checking on your voting status as well as any request seeking a mail-in ballot. I took part in a Zoom connection entitled “MontCoVotes” and learned how to maneuver through the government channels and wanted to share them here.
For the first time in our nation’s history, an attorney who once practiced law as a public defender will serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the Senate and will take her seat this summer when Justice Stephen Breyer steps down. She will be the first former criminal defense lawyer since Justice Thurgood Marshall, who served on the bench more than 30 years ago.
One of my favorite jobs was serving as an intern for the Defender Association of Philadelphia. I went to the jails, the Courtrooms, and the training rooms to learn how to properly defend persons charged with various crimes.
The prison was tough. You never knew if the defendant was telling the truth or not. You simply interviewed him for the basic information and wrote up his story for a trial lawyer to review before speaking to the suspect and going to trial. You never saw the person again, and you had no idea how he may have fared.
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of “Vietnam War Recall”
Like many other young men of the time, author Michael Contos found himself in the military, headed to a turbulent region of the world to protect democracy. After completing Officer Candidate School, Michael was deployed to Vietnam to lead a platoon of infantrymen on missions while evading the formidable Viet Cong forces. Here, he describes the worst day of his life that led to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a debilitating condition that would threaten to consume his life and linger for decades; a day so jarring that he would not talk about it, even with his family.
Upon returning home, his experiences in combat haunt him, so he seeks the help of spiritual leaders to relieve the symptoms of PTSD. The story is told in the first person through flashbacks, introspection, and excerpts from the author’s blog. Through the narration, readers get a glimpse into the personal turmoil that many of our veterans face after combat.
———– The best part of this book is the intimate and emotional description of PTSD; a young leader, not afforded time to grieve or debrief from his experiences, lives with the nightmares, flashbacks, and anxiety that seem to permeate every facet of his life. These intense feelings are captured clearly by the author.
I also love the way the daily humdrum of military life is portrayed, and the descriptions sure bring back memories for this veteran. The cadences, the euphoric feeling when you realize your parachute is perfect, and the anticipation of the return to the United States (DEROS) are very real indeed! A little humor, typical of military camaraderie, is also peppered into the pages of the story; I had to chuckle when I read about some familiar but important advice: never crap alone in the field!
Although the messages are powerful, the book does seem a bit repetitive at times. Other than this, there is nothing negative to say about the story; its purpose and voice are truly a gift to an audience who does not truly understand the realities of war and its crippling effects on our young servicemen, not only the ones who gave their lives but also those who returned bearing unseen scars.
———–
I happily give Vietnam Recall: The Best and Worst Days of My Life a count of 4 out of 4 stars for these reasons. The book appears professionally edited and is divided into chapters of appropriate length.
I particularly recommend this book to readers who love historical accounts of war and those who seek insight from a primary source about mental illness. Those with family members in the military will appreciate the insightful glimpse into the psyche of those who have chosen to defend our way of life. There is some moderate profanity, along with explicit descriptions of trauma and wartime peril; those sensitive to these topics may not want to read the book.
For all others, the book is a penetrating account of one man’s journey towards healing and peace. All who read this story will undoubtedly be moved by the author’s gripping words as he relives the most difficult moments of his life. He speaks for the countless others who remain silent.
My reality took a major hit when I learned of a book that reveals the famous battle at the Alamo in Texas was not what Walt Disney had broadcast on TV but was a nefarious cover-up of an expansion of slavery in the Lone Star State.
Santa Anna’s Mexican troops were trying to stamp out slavery in its territory, and the 180 persons fighting at the old Spanish mission in San Antonio were trying not only to retain slavery, but to make it grow for the production of cotton.
I complained to USAA, the American Veterans Car Insurance Company, when I learned that it was advertising on the Tucker Carlson show. As a subscriber of USAA for more than 50 years, I threatened to seek insurance elsewhere after the Fox News host called the Joint Chiefs of Staff general “stupid” and followed that up by describing him as a “pig.”
“I do think it is important for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and well-read,” he told the House Armed Services Committee. “I want to understand white rage . . . and I’m white. . . I want to understand it. So, what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this (the Capital) and try to overturn the Constitution?”
Stop supporting white supremacists and serve veterans, please!
———
I salute this military leader, a four-star general who is also “airborne infantry,” and cannot for the life of me understand how someone who never put on a uniform or faced a single day in combat could say such drivel about such a soldier.
Nor can I understand how USAA could continue spending advertising dollars on the Fox program. I know they want to reach veterans and our families, but the money is also propping up a mouthpiece for white supremacy and anti-democratic conspiracy theories.
Walter Mondale, the Minnesota resident and former candidate for president of the United States, was a staunch advocate for providing legal services to poor people charged with crimes, and I firmly believe that his legacy will live on.
I remember Mondale through my wife, who took a leave of absence from her work as a copy editor at The Inquirer Newspaper of Philadelphia to work for Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman endorsed by a political party to run for vice president. Wendy, who passed away three years ago this month, drove in a cavalcade of volunteers assisting celebrities who met and supported the congresswoman from New York.
She met Mary Travers – of Peter, Paul and Mary – who asked for a side trip to eat a cheese steak at Pat’s Steaks in South Philadelphia, which Mary claimed she had heard so much about!
Even though Mondale served as vice president under Jimmy Carter and ran against and lost to Ronald Reagan for president, he also served as the Attorney General for the state of Minnesota. It was in 1962 that he encouraged more than 20 attorney generals throughout the country to join in an amicus brief in support of a poor man from Florida who asked for but was denied the assistance of a lawyer for his criminal trial.
————–
Clarence Earl Gideon was found guilty when he went to trial and was sentenced to five years in jail. The pool hall owner claimed the defendant stole $5 in change, along with some beer and soda, and $50 from a jukebox.
While in prison, he used prison stationery and a prison-approved pencil to write an appeal to the US Supreme Court. (The actual hand-written appeal is on display at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia!)
Mondale convinced 22 other attorneys general throughout the United States to join in the amicus brief in support of Gideon. Some believe it helped to sway the court, which decided unanimously to grant relief to the poor Gideon, who was in his early 50s and considered to be a drifter when convicted in 1961. (He had no more than an 8th-grade education and ran away from home when he was in middle school.)
————-
The landmark decision – in a case cited as Gideon v Wainwright – led to the creation of the vastpublic defender system in the United States. I served as a criminal defense lawyer for 20 years in Philadelphia and owe the creation of my job to Gideon.
Well, what happened after the court case? Gideon – such an unlikely hero – was appointed a lawyer to represent him at another trial, and he was found Not Guilty! In 1980, Henry Fonda played the part of Gideon in a made-for-television movie called “Gideon’s Trumpet.”
Thank you, Walter Mondale, for your support of the underdog and your compassion for the poor in our society.
Walter Mondale, a truechampion for the poor and underprivileged in the USA
Any veteran who took part in the January 6th Insurrection at the US Capitol should be stripped of his or her VA benefits and labeled a “traitor”
There is a disturbing number of current and former military personnel identified among those who broke into the Capitol to overturn the election. About 20 percent of the nearly 300 arrested, according to NPR. They should no longer receive treatment at VA hospitals, get the GI Bill for attending school, or obtain a mortgage loan.
I look forward to eventually reading the news of an indictment against the former president and/or an update on all of the civil lawsuits against him.
You know they’re coming. All the highly experienced lawyers need to do is simply confirm their concrete and rock-solid facts before going to Court and contacting the News Media for reporters to share the information on the law with the entire world.
Today, I am a Georgia boy once again. And if we try hard enough, all of us could be Georgians!
Over the next several weeks, I hope Americans join with me in offering positive intentions to convince the universe to focus and raise up the wonderful State of Georgia.
First Lieutenant Victor Lee Ellinger was no ‘loser’, Mister Trump.
He was shot and killed by an enemy sniper during the Vietnam War, and I forced marched my platoon to come to his aid, only to find out we got to him too late to help.
He was no “sucker,” having enlisted the same year that you miraculously developed bone spurs on one of your feet, getting your fifth deferment to keep you out of the military and any chance of being in harm’s way. It was the same year I was drafted and later commissioned to lead a bunch of other young men into battle.
I want to unmask my true feelings about the Masking of America and how to get people to care enough for one another to be a little more considerate while walking outdoors.
As a veteran of several military bases, I would vote to change the names of all the facilities named for generals who fought for the Confederate army during our nation’s Civil War.
I offer such action with a heavy heart because of the link I still have with the facilities that helped to create the soldier I had become, and the lessons learned in the US Army. Continue reading →
I was so proud of the Secretary of the Navy for his resignation in protest of a hideous act to cover up the atrocities of those in the military charged with war crimes.  Continue reading →
I never realized I had anything in common with Abraham Lincoln until I re-watched a movie about the president’s early life as a trial attorney. Yes, Honest Abe served as a lawyer who once worked for the railroads as well as those charged with criminal offenses. Henry Fonda played a young Abe Lincoln in a classic movie on Turner Classic Movies in which the Springfield, Illinois,former rail-splitter pulled a stunt in a courtroom that convinced a jury to find his client not guilty of murder. A young man for whom Lincoln represented pro bono was charged with killing a man at night in a wooded area.
That’s the jury instruction I’d request a judge to provide when a witness at a trial said one thing one time and another thing at another time. Also, when one or more witnesses said something different than what the first witness had sworn to tell the truth about while sitting on the witness stand. Continue reading →
While editorials from dozens of newspapers throughout the country are expected to be offered about the attacks on the First Amendment on August 16, I figured I’d get my two cents in as a former news reporter.  Continue reading →
That is the message gracefully displayed at the gravesite of my favorite Founding Father in the City of Philadelphia. He was an ambassador to both England and France, as well as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and contributor to the US Constitution. He was also an inventor, a philosopher, and the creator of the first library, the first zoo, and the first fire company in the New World.
She stared at me as I walked from the courtroom, and I felt her hate bore into me. Her whole posture seemed to drip with contempt, and what I could only feel at that moment was a curse from her whole being.  Continue reading →
Contoveros 