George W. Parker III

GEORGE P. SHULTZ – MARINE Shultz – Original Letter

A CHILD AGAIN It was during the summer of 1928 that I last knew my mother.  I say “knew” because she had tuberculosis as long as I remembered, and was in a sanitarium or struggling at home much of the time.  But she raised my five sisters and me and spread her love among us. […]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE     Ever so often, a person, when hearing I was in World War II, will say, “Thank you for your service.” I accept the thanks humbly and graciously.  Their thanks indicate they believe I have survived great risks, and suffered wounds on the battlefield.  This is a rather common […]

      The Girls from Santo Tomas The war was over; peace had returned to the land.  The soldiers framed their medals and ribbons and hung them on the wall, turned in their arms and turned to the plow, the factory, or school. Mothers came home from the factory and shipyards and turned to […]

      AUTUMN     Oh, it’s a long, long time from May to December But the days grow short when you reach September, When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame, —. The yearly seasons emulate life, and I have passed spring, my introduction to this wonderful life, and childhood; then summer […]

    PEARL HARBOR     Libraries are such beautiful places.  Regardless of the size or institution, there is a calm, unhurried atmosphere about them, be it the small branch library of a city, or a massive edifice at a university.  And I am always awed by the thought that libraries have stored, and available, […]

  THE HOLLY TREE The tree should never have been planted there – half-way between the front porch and the street sidewalk.  Its limbs and sharp edged leaves brushed you as you walked the path.  That is, before we re-built the front steps to repair termite damage.  Then we re-routed the new stone path in […]

    THE LAST DANCE The dance floor is thinning. It’s better now. It was “excuse me” and “sorry”, as you bumped your hands and elbows into someone’s back, though you were hugging them close to your body. But somehow, there was room for that one couple to show off their expertise and you were […]

    I DON’T UNDERSTAND The other day I was driving down the street in my old Ford pick-up when I saw a crowd of people standing around a parked automobile.  In my usual curious way, I had to stop and see what was going on.  There, was parked a sleek little automobile, a two-seater […]

  VANITY   Verily mankind walketh in a vain show, And his best state is vanity.             This is a phrase from my favorite concert, Brahams’ German Requiem. My wife, too, is fond of it, and we individually selected its “How lovely is thy dwelling place” for our choir’s music at our wedding.   Verily […]

    A CHANGE IN MY LIFE In the 1950s I got most of my news from the newspaper.   I read speeches, opinions, declarations, and both obituaries and great promises about our economy, most of them conflicting with the other.  I had studied some economics in college, but I felt the need to upgrade my […]