I had a productive week on my Hawley biography at the Library of Congress. I wrote some “Roosevelt’s Washington” posts for the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Facebook page as well. Now we are relaxing and taking it easy with coffee. It is one of those cold and bright mornings. Later while I am listening to the football games I am going to sort out everything  photocopied at the LOC and make some notes and outlines.

A friend sent me a link the other day about the death of Hiroo Onoda. I have written several times about the passing of the WW2 generation. The 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor marked the end of something for me personally. It seems that the commemorations went from “distant current events” to “history” with that 2011 ceremony.

For those who may not know, Hiroo Onoda was Second Lieutenant Onoda in the Imperial Japanese Army. He and a handful of others lived for decades in the Philippine jungles refusing to believe that the war had ended. He finally surrendered when in 1974 the authorities flew in his commanding officer to convince him to do so.