Friday the 13th isn't all bad

I've had a few aches and pains this week. I'll bet you've had a few, too.

At 4 o'clock this morning, I took a shortcut to my van. Instead of following the sidewalk to the driveway to the driver's side door, I went the cross-country route. Through the yard and down the hill. I made it all of one step down that hill.

My left foot planted and immediately lost its hold on the snow and ice. My legs separated about as far as humanly possible. I slid the 10 feet down to the driveway, with my laptop computer sliding right along with me. Not a good start to my Friday, the 13th.

Things could have been worse, of course.

Which brings us to perhaps the finest book written to date by one of the finest newspapermen in America.

"Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War" was written in 2000 by Bob Greene.

The famous author is the son of the late World War II veteran Major Bob Greene.

The "Man Who Won the War" is U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Paul Tibbets, who not only piloted the Enola Gay to Hiroshima, Japan in 1945, but also supervised 1,800 servicemen in Wendover, Nevada just across the Utah state line in a top-secret mission of all military missions.

All three men – Major Bob Greene, the author Bob Greene (Jr.) and Gen. Tibbets – are Ohioans.

While the former and the latter understood what real personal sacrifice and hardship meant, the man in the middle knew how to best record their respective histories and how the Greatest Generation may have been let down by the subsequent ones.

Which brings us back to my momentarily taking the Lord's good name in vain well before sunup this morning.

I haven't quite reached – but am fast approaching – the age where falling and sliding downhill isn't the fun that it once was.

After a few hours on the road today, though, I began to reflect on something the younger Bob Greene had written about his father being stuck in a foxhole or a dugout in winter in Italy with German artillery just over the next horizon.

My once aching back began to feel much better. In fact, it no longer hurts at all.

And then there were the German tracers fired on Christmas Eve. For three minutes prior to midnight and three minutes after midnight. Not to inflict harm, but, just perhaps to recognize Christmas. (Or maybe to remind the Allies of yet another Christmas fighting another foreign war.)

Within the serious business of World War II, the author intersperses stories of his Army officer father and Gen. Tibbets.

The author shares how these aging World War II veterans coped with everyday life some 55 years after the atomic bombs ended the war with Japan.

"My father, in his last years, walked very slowly," Greene writes about a conversation he had had with Gen. Tibbets. "I never said anything to him about it."

In a later passage, Greene shares with readers that he had witnessed the same with the 84-year-old Gen. Tibbets.

"I asked Gen. Tibbets: Were men aware of this when it happened to them?" Greene writes. "Did they know they were walking so slowly or did it just seem to them that the rest of the world was (moving) too fast?"

General Tibbets answered: "Oh, believe me, we know. You get older and your muscles aren't as springy. They're not as capable of carrying the load. So you just tell yourself that there's no hurry. Everyone wants to be 21, and you don't want to make it so obvious how slow you have become."

Indeed.

Bob Greene's books are always among my favorite reads. He writes for the reader, not for himself. His books reflect the true newspaperman that he is. The opening graph of "Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War" reads: "The morning after the last meal I ever ate with my father, I finally met the man who won the war."

It was the author's military father who gave Gen. Tibbets that moniker. It took the author 20 years of trying to finally get his first interview with Paul Tibbets.

The book is a heartfelt tribute to two World War II veteran officers and American heroes. I finished my 99-cent copy from a used book sale (thanks, Cait) on Friday, the 13th, 2013.

If you're looking for a wonderful book to present as a gift this holiday season – especially to those veterans in your life – I'm sure you can find a copy of Bob Greene's book online. You'll be glad you did.

* * *

Not that I'm overly superstitious (or "cautious," as Dep. Barney Fife used to insist), but this particular Friday, the 13th wasn't all that bad.

After falling down (by the way, "Falling Down" was a great movie from 1993 with Michael Douglas, but it is rarely shown these days), and after sliding feet first to my van, the day could only get better. Praise be to God, it did.

Two of my favorite local public officials, Judge Kevin Greer and Superintendent Rick Earley, called today. As always, it was good to speak with them.

Later, one of my favorite Legal Eagles from Clermont County called as he often does. Which reminds me, I think it's about time that he invites my wife and me to The Works, a great brick oven pizzeria in Loveland. Hello, Topper??

Lastly, speaking of food (yes, I like to eat), once again, the Old "Y" Restaurant came through with a delicious two-piece fish sandwich and onion rings tonight. Thank you. (You can't take the Ridgerunner or the Mowrystown out of me!)

Oh, and one final note worth sharing: Today, my family received our annual Christmas card from World War II Navy veteran Clyde Pidcock and his lovely wife, Helen.

Life is good.

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.