February 1 in History

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“Two people died in that photograph: the recipient of the bullet and General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera.”—Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams

An Associated Press photographer and an NBC News television team were in Saigon, Vietnam, covering street fighting during the second day of the Tet Offensive on this date in 1968 when a prisoner was brought before South Vietnam’s police chief, Nguyễn Ngọc Loan. Loan pulled out his .38 revolver and fired a single shot into the head of the prisoner, who died instantly. Loan continued his tour of the street after firing the pistol, was already steps away from the prisoner before the young man’s head hit the ground.
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January 31 in History

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another.”—Fr. Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton was born on this date in 1915.

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Franz Schubert (at top) was born on this date in 1797. Only 31 when he died, he left behind almost 1000 works—several hundred songs, some individual and some in song cycles; seven officially complete symphonies and five other partial symphonies (one of which, Symphony No. 8 in B minor, the Unfinished, is one of the most performed works in most orchestra’s repertoires); and many chamber works.
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Irreplaceable Me

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

I never fooled myself into believing that I was indispensable, but did I have to prove it so often to the world at large?

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There is a phrase one hears in recovery circles: “Pulling a geographic.” While sharing their stories about the past and the inebriated life, many addicts and alcoholics learn that they have done similar things, like move across the country because they thought that a change would do them good.

One of the things that many of us did, many times, when we were trying to exert control over life was run from it. Move. Sometimes across town and sometimes cross-country. There was nothing so bad it couldn’t be fixed without filling out a change-of-address card.
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