Memorial Day ~ when we’ve been attacked on our soil

On 05/25/202005/25/2020 By NikeChillemiIn America, Citizenship, Holiday, Society, Civics, US Military4 Comments

Honoring the brave men and women in the American Armed Forces…and…

Whether the Corona Virus was designed to be a biological weapon and just got away from the Chinese Communist Party or not, in the aftermath they used it as if it were a weapon. They threatened the United States of America with the possibility of withholding our medicines which are manufactured in China.

This year, 2020, I honor those who have died in the line of duty in every branch of the US Armed Forces: The Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard. I especially want to remember those sailors and medical personnel on the two Navy hospital ships. I want to remember the Army that built entire hospitals in a matter of weeks. Hopefully none of them died of Covid19, but if they did, they were there for us, as they always are and I honor their sacrifice.

I also honor those working round clock in hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities who lost their lives fighting Covid19. I honor those in meat and other processing plants who lost their lives, cashiers and stock clerks in supermarkets and drug stores, and other necessary markets. Yes, also dollar stores. Truck drivers and delivery personnel who lost their lives due to Covid19 so that the rest of us could continue living, though living was restricted. I think of them all as first responders, those on the front lines who perished. Maybe they are the New Minute Men/Women, resisting a deadly virus sent to our shores by a foreign power, an enemy. This year it’s been a different kind of Memorial Day for me.

Pray For Our POTUS, Our Nation ~ in this time of North Korean threat

On 08/12/201708/12/2017 By NikeChillemiIn America, Church, Inspiratioal, US Military4 Comments

hand reaching

O Mighty God, we thank you that you have your hand on our president, Donald J. Trump, in this time of crisis with North Korea and the threats of their tyrannical and antagonistic leader. We thank you that you have reached out your hand over our nation to protect America and its territories in this season of crisis.

We know that in prayer, we do not fight flesh and blood, but powers in the spirit realm and principalities that exist there. In this crisis with North Korea, All Mighty God, send your warrior angels to defeat the minions of the evil one making their camp in that isolated and withdrawn land. Let Your divine and perfect will be done in this situation and all glory and honor go to You. In Jesus name, amen.

Psalm 91New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
²I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹²They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶“With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

A Memorial Day Poem ~ the story behind it

On 05/28/201605/28/2016 By NikeChillemiIn Citizenship, Holiday, Law Enforcement/Military/EMS, US Military

Memorial Day 1

Jean Browder had been looking for a Memorial Day poem to read at her church service. She saw the title of this one listed among many poems for the holiday and it touched her. She clicked on it and was amazed to discover her son had written it.

We Never Forget by Mitchell Browder (written on Memorial Day 2001 after a visit to the American Cemetery and War Memorial in Florence, Italy)

Brothers and Sisters at rest
we never forget
the gift you give
we still receive how could you know
so young
that your battle
at all cost
must be won Brothers and Sisters at rest
may we, in your eyes
pass your test
and one day, with honor
join your ranks

Memorial Day 3 — **Don’t forget prisoners of war. They have not all been military in a war on terror, and in previous wars. We have and have had journalists taken, medical personnel, missionaries, civilians…**

Memorial Day 7 — **Let’s not forget the first responders (police, firefighters, EMS, equine and canine in the field. We’re losing them at an alarming rate too.**

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Honoring My Dad, Emil Navor and my Uncle Nicky, on Veteran’s Day

On 11/11/201501/24/2016 By NikeChillemiIn America, Family, Holiday, US Military8 Comments

As it’s Veteran’s Day weekend, I’d like to honor my dad, Emil M. Navor, who was in the US Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps in the Pacific arena during World War II. Of course he often joked that Army intelligence, counter or otherwise, was an oxymoron. After the war, he attended college on the GI Bill and became a high school English teacher. When my brother and I were kids, he used to read bedtime stories to us, really great books…exciting ones. I attribute my love of reading and writing to him. He often spoke about how he loved the Philippines and its people.

I’d also like to honor my uncle Nicholas Novogrodsky who died after the attack on Pearl Harbor but in the waters not far from that base when his plane went down. He was my mother’s younger brother. I wasn’t exactly named for him. Nicola would’ve been the choice had that been the case, but my parents were on the eclectic side, you see. However, the letter “N” was chosen for my first name to honor and remember him. The village of Woodridge, NY, where he grew up and went to high school named a road “Novogrodsky Road” after him as a remembrance. My mother and grandmother never really got over his loss. You see, freedom has a heavy price. It’s not free.

The Way We Treat Our Veterans Is Criminal ~ Honoring Them Today

On 11/11/2014 By NikeChillemiIn America, US Military

We’re all familiar with the Veterans Administration scandals. It’s outrageous, and is indeed criminal. The culture in Washington, D.C. must be changed with regard of U.S. veterans, and changed quick.

But today is Veteran’s Day and I want to remember and honor America’s military veterans. I want to thank them for their service. They are a breed apart: courageous, self-sacrificing.

I’ve always had a heart for America’s veterans. Maybe that’s why the hero in my debut novel, BURNING HEARTS, was a decorated, World War II returning veteran with a degree of shell-shock. Today, we’d call that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Today’s veterans who return with PTSD and other disabling issues must receive the medical treatment they deserve. Medical attention for veterans is not an entitlement. It’s part of the compensation they were promised when they signed up. Veterans who are able to work, should be at the top of the lists for government jobs. These are not difficult things to accomplish. There simply must be the will in Washington to do so.

Armed Forces Day ~ Recognizing Our Armed Forces

On 05/14/201405/14/2014 By NikeChillemiIn Holiday, US Military4 Comments

I’ve long been in awe of our Armed Forces, the finest military force that has ever existed on the planet. And so Armed Forces Day is a perfect day to show appreciation.

It’s imperative that our young men and women serving abroad far away from their families, often in dangerous circumstances, feel our appreciation. It is my hope that this blog in some small way will help boost the morale of any member of the US military who happens to read it. I also hope to hold out the hand of friendship and support to the families of military personnel.

On May 17th, Armed Forces Day 2014, across the fruited plain there will be military air shows to enjoy as well as parades and other civic activities. It’s a great day to make it a family time. Take the kids and have some fun, but at the same time teach them to respect our men and women in the US military.

This is a time I have to speak in outrage about the unconscionable treatment our veterans are getting in Veterans Hospitals. The worst case is in the Arizona VA Hospital system where veterans have been reported to have been deliberately placed on secret waiting lists, resulting in veterans dying. It’s my opinion that care in VA hospitals across the country must be improved. Our veterans were assured they would have medical care when they got out of the military. This is not something that out of the kindness of our hearts we give to veterans. No! It’s a contract this nation signed with its military personnel. It’s part of the the benefits they are guaranteed when they sign up.

We tend to think our veterans have been treated better in days gone by and that it’s only in this present day that it’s gotten so bad. There have been delays in giving veterans back pay in days gone by, and the treatment of Vietnam veterans was horrid, a national disgrace. It’s time as a nation to get it together and improve our track record with regard to our military veterans.

I’m a supporter of the US military. My very first novel, BURNING HEARTS, was an arson/murder mystery with its male main character a World War II hero veteran. During the war, Lieutenant Lorne Kincaid appeared to be a motor cycle courier, but in actuality he was sent on dangerous undercover assignments in France for General George S. Patton. After the war, Lorne decides to settle down in a small village where he helps the story’s heroine, Erica Brogna, try to rescue a woman trapped in a burning house. When the wealthiest family in the village realize their dilettante son might be the major suspect, they leave no stone unturned attempting to frame Lorne.

My Dad’s Hair Raising WWII Army Counter Intelligence Corps Experiences

On 11/10/201311/11/2013 By NikeChillemiIn 1940s Murder Mysteries, US Military7 Comments

Dad never spoke about any specifics of the war, or gave any details of his duties or assignments. But he did have a few hair raising tales. These are things he’d say when he was very relaxed…sometimes at the dinner table, or perhaps when he was settled comfortably in a lawn chair after a family barbeque or picnic. He said it wasn’t all that unusual for him to have been behind enemy lines and how scary that had been. More than once, he’d be laying, soaking wet, in a rice paddy while enemy transports rumbled by on a dirt road not more than twenty-five feet away. One time he and his Army buddies were walking on a road in the Philippines and an Japanese fighter jet came out of nowhere, diving at them, strafing the road. He and his buddies dove into the mud and muck in the field on the side of the road and none of them were hit.

He loved the Philippines and it’s people. He brought home a machete from that island nation and I now proudly display it on my bookshelf in front of some of my favorite mystery novels.

I have a love of the World War II era and the 1940s. That’s why I wrote a post WWII historical whodunit series set on the south shore of Long Island, NY. Book number one of that series, BURNING HEARTS, features a WWII hero who comes home only to find powerful people have framed him for arson/murder.