Archive for the ‘History and Memory’ Category
More on the unsolvable morality of the atomic bomb
Remnants of a city, Hiroshima, August 1945 With the recent anniversaries of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there has been the inevitable stirring and rehashing of old debates. August 6 and August 9 (incidentally, the birthdays of my brothers Neil and Carl, respectively) marked military action of unprecedented extremity, and [...]
August 16th, 2010Stirring up old leaves, long settled: Willie McGee, family history, and good storytelling
Last Friday, while waiting to depart for Charleston, S.C. to visit my brother, I was listening to All Things Considered. Nothing too unusual for five o’clock on a weekday, until I heard Bridgette McGee-Robinson’s story, of an enduring curiosity and quest for answers regarding her grandfather, Willie McGee. In 1951, in the small town of [...]
May 12th, 2010