New Photos of Ireland

Found a few more photos taken in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland when I was over there in June.

Favorite Photos From Trip: Places and Objects

Favorite photos of places and objects. Double-click to super-size.390th Control Tower, Framlingham.
Church door, Horham. This Norman church was built in 1312.

Ancient House, Horham. Built in the 13th century. Town store on left. Stayed in this house with Alan Johnson while in Horham.
Old graves in Horham Churchyard.
View of Horham village from church steeple.
Edinburgh Castle.

Window, old 95th base hospital, Horham.
Garden, Scottish Borders.
Poppies on old 95th hardstand.
Scottish Borders from walls of Hume Castle.

Dingle Harbor, County Kerry, Ireland.

Old base theater, Framlingham.
Nature re-takes the main runway at Horham (modified).

Hume Castle, Scottish Borders
Scott's Lookout, Scottish Borders

Tree Tunnel, Scottish Borders (modified)

Home From Travels for 95th Bomb Group

The 95th's main runway at Horham.

An old hardstand on the 95th Base at Horham, rapidly being reclaimed by the verdant vegetation of the region. My host Alan Johnson, who put me up in his house for six nights. We had fish and chips, went to a party, and hoisted a few beers when not working. Here Alan stands in front of the Red Feather Club, a passion of his for many year. Alan grew up near the base and has dedicated his life to remembering the American servicemen who came to the small town many years ago.
With my mentor and co-author of our upcoming history, Mr. Ian Hawkins, at his home in Bacton.
Christine and Richard Havers outside their home in the Scottish Borders. In the background is the spacious, luxurious guesthouse where they put me up for the night.

Looking out a window in the old base hospital at Horham, home of the 95th Bomb Group.
James Mutton in front of his old school in East Anglia.
Traveling in style with Alan and James, we took their wonderfully-restored original JEEP to the 100th BG base at Thorpe Abbotts.
One of several brilliant murals painted on the wall of the Red Feather Club on the 95th base at Horham, lovingly restored by the Brits who keep the memories alive.

Temple Bar, downtown Dublin. River Liffey, Downtown Dublin.
Roses of Tralee, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.

Just home today from my business trip to the England with a side trip to Scotand and Ireland. There to write the 95th Bomb Group (H) history, one of the great B-17 outfits of WWII, based near the small town of Horham in East Anglia.

Looking out towards Dingle Harbor, County Kerry.

I will post a travelogue over the next few days of the trip.

My thanks to my hosts, including Alan Johnson, Norman Feltwell and James Mutton in Suffolk and Richard and Christine Havers in the Scottish Borders. Such gracious hosts! I can't thank you enough.

School Year Ends, Writing Projects Begin

Near Malad Pass, not far from the Idaho/Utah border. All the rain has made the land green--for now.

A polygamist compound on the way down to Lagoon, near Tremonton, Utah.Kids on the bus, heading down to Lagoon for the 9th grade trip. We took about 300 kids down for the day on Wednesday.
Yours truly with some of my students, messing around.
My daughter Brianna graduates from high school this week. We're throwing her a party. With her is her boyfriend Patrick.

The school year ended yesterday, my 23rd in the public school system, four years in rural Wyoming and the other 19 here in Idaho Falls. The last week, our 9th grade class took the yearly trip to Lagoon, an amusement park near Salt Lake City. As you can see, it was a cold trip, but fun none the less.

On June 4, I'm flying to England to do research for a book on the 95th Bomb Group. Looking forward to this trip very much, and to seeing my British friends again. I'll spend time in East Anglia, near Horham, where the 95th was stationed during the war, as well as visit the American Cemetery and retrace the steps of the 95th men in London on their rare 24-hour passes. It is a humbling duty, to tell the story of these great men, many of whom I had the opportunity to meet at the 2008 95th Reunion in Tucson, Arizona in April.

Plans also to visit a friend in Scotland for a day or two, and then since I'm already over there, I'll travel over to Ireland for a week or so and travel the country on public transport.

My youngest daughter Brianna graduates from high school this week, and we are surprising her with a party. My wife's family is coming down from Missoula, Montana for the occasion.

Shortly after I return from England, I'll be going to California. It will be a busy and productive summer, and I'll keep readers posted.

Irish Diver Finds Lee Kessler's B-17 'Meltin' Pot'

This writing job never ceases to surprise and fascinate me. A few months ago, I got an email from a fellow writer in Northern Ireland named Jack Scoltock. Jack is a well-known author of children's books in the UK and also a diver. He emailed me to let me know he was finishing up a book about his dives to a sunken B-17 bomber named 'The Meltin' Pot', which sank in the Lough Foyle on the way to England in 1942.

Seamus Carey researched and found the plane.

I was friends with one of the crewmen, a gentleman named Lee Kessler, whom I wrote about in my book Untold Valor. Lee had the dubious distinction of having survived four plane crashes in his Air Corps career. One was stateside during his training as an aerial gunner and it killed the pilot. The second was the dangerous ocean ditching of 'The Meltin' Pot' off the Irish Coast. All aboard survived but spent hours in the frigid waters. The third crash totaled the crew's replacement B-17 after a mission, and the fourth resulted in Lee becoming a POW in Germany. It was during his time as a POW that Lee survived the infamous forced winter march and witnessed a war crime that he turned into an internationally acclaimed piece of Holocaust art.

Jack is putting the finishing touches on a book about the underwater discovery of the Meltin' Pot. I for one am excited to read it. The book is due out in June.

When I visited Lee Kessler at this home in Canton, Ohio some years back, he told me that the plane had been discovered, and he was hoping to fly over to Ireland to meet with the divers who'd found it. Sadly, Lee passed away only a few months after we talked, and never got a chance to see the plane that had carried him and the rest of the crew safely across the Atlantic, only to ditch in the sea.

Jack wrote me: "Did you know that Charles Pappy Grimes, who was on Lee's original crew of Meltin' Pot, played saxophone or relief saxophone for Tommy Dorsey before he was called up. That's why there are 120 Tommy Dorsey records and a record player on board the Meltin' Pot. Yet to be salvaged."

The tentative cover of the book is shown here, and I'm also giving Jack's personal website in case anyone wants to order a book or has a question about the recovery of the aircraft.

Here is the weblink for Jack's writing website: http://www.jackscoltock.com/





The photo above, which I took in Lee's home, shows Lee holding the cover of his wartime scrapbook. If you look closely, you can see a painting of the ditching of the Meltin' Pot near the middle. The book's cover is decorated by paintings depicting Lee's many experiences in the war. It was held shut by a captured German belt and buckle. The belt is blue and white and runs across the bottom of the book, and the buckle is circular and silver at the right of the book.

An Evening of Irish Music with SOLAS

Last night my wife Geri and I went to a concert by Solas, the acclaimed Irish band. It was an amazing show, especially for a place as out-of-the-way as Idaho Falls. Solas plays traditional Irish music but infuses their tunes with modern twists that have made them popular across genres. If you have never heard of Solas, you owe it to yourself to check them out. They have an excellent webpage at http://www.solasmusic.com/.

The musicians made several references to the difficulty getting enough air at our high altitude and worked very hard to put on a rousing, hand-clapping, foot-stomping show.

Since its birth in 1996, Solas has been loudly proclaimed as the most popular, influential, and exciting Celtic band to ever emerge from the United States. Even before the release of its first Shanachie CD, the Boston Herald trumpeted the quartet as "the first truly great Irish band to arise from America and the Irish Echo ranked Solas among the "most exciting bands anywhere in the world."

Since then, the praise has only grown louder. The Philadelphia Inquirer said they make "mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world's best". The New York Times praised their "unbridled vitality", the Washington Post dubbed them one of the "world's finest Celtic-folk ensembles" and the Austin American-Statesman called them "the standard by which contemporary Celtic groups are judged."

Solas is virtually unique in the new territory it has opened up for Celtic music. It has performed at all the major Celtic and folk festivals, including Philadelphia, Edmonton, the legendary National Folk Festival, and Milwaukee's Irish fest; but also at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and the chamber music summer series at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It has performed at Symphony Hall, Wolf Trap, the Ford Amphitheater, and Queens Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland. In New York City, where the band was based in its early years, it has played at the legendary Bottom Line folk club, but also at vaunted classical venues Town Hall and Symphony Space.
The Solas sound today is anchored by founders Seamus Egan, who plays flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, whistle, guitar and bodhran, and fiddler Winifred Horan. They are two of the most respected—and imitated—musicians anywhere in acoustic music. Mick McAuley from Kilkenny plays accordion and concertina; Eamon McElholm from Tyrone plays guitar and keyboards. Deirdre Scanlan is the band's latest vocal discovery, gorgeously filling the role carved out by founding vocalist Karan Casey.

(My note: A special treat last night was the appearance of original singer Karan Casey, who retired to be a mother a few years ago and made the trip to Idaho from Waterford, Ireland.)

Supplemental background information:

Solas has emerged as the most exciting band in traditional Irish music. The Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine says, "Seamus Egan and Solas make mind-blowing Irish folk music, maybe the world's best," while the Los Angeles Times says, "Solas offers a compellingly original, strikingly contemporary view of traditional Celtic sounds." Although Solas can play undiluted traditional Irish music as well as anyone alive or departed, they are always varying the mix of fire tested tradition and contemporary sensibility with an ease and naturalness that is as astonishing as their overwhelming musicianship. As a result, they transcend musical genres into the realm of pure musical expression that only a relative handful of musicians attain. The internationally acclaimed supergroup has not only captured the hearts and ears of Irish music fans, but fans all around the globe with their blend of Celtic traditional, folk and country melodies, bluesy sometimes jazz-inspired improvisations and global rhythms. Solas has built a fanbase that includes the likes of Bela Fleck, Emmylou Harris and the much sought-after rap producer Timbaland who surprisingly sampled the band on his radio hit "All Yall." Waiting for an Echo, Solas' newest gem, promises to attract new fans and further endear old ones.

Seamus Egan is an instrumental wizard who has mastered everything from the flute to tenor banjo, mandolin, tin whistle, low whistle, guitars and bodhran. Born in Hatboro, PA. and raised for a time in Foxford, Co. Mayo, Ireland, he has been signed to Shanachie Entertainment since the age of 13! Fans may remember Sarah McLaughlan's Grammy-winning hit "I'll Remember You," penned by Seamus along with Sarah and Dave Merg. The master composer has also written music and played on soundtracks for the films Brothers McMullen and the Oscar winning movie Dead Man Walking, as well as the stage show Dancing on Dangerous Ground. Seamus recently added acting to his many list of talents. In the summer, he completed filming the independent film "American Wake."

Native New Yorker Winifred Horan is a graduate of Boston's prestigious New England Conservatory of Music. She has played in Cherish the Ladies and the Sharon Shannon Band and has recorded with everyone from Richard Shindell and Patty Larkin to Liz Carroll and Eileen Ivers. Incidentally, Winifred is a nine-time Irish stepdancing titlist, and an All-Ireland fiddle champion. Horan's recent solo outing, Just One Wish, was hailed as one of the best Celtic or roots albums of 2002 by the Boston Globe, Philadelphia City Paper, Irish Times and Irish Echo. Horan's technical virtuosity coupled with her yen for musical roaming is a key element to the fascinating sound of Solas.

Mick McAuley hails from Callan, Co. Kilkenny and has long been regarded as one of Ireland's finest button accordionists. Born into a well known musical family, Mick has been playing whistles and accordion from the time he was a child. By the time he was eleven, he had already appeared on national tv. As a teenager he toured extensively throughout Europe at various cultural festivals while turning his hand to the concertina. Mick, who also sings background vocals for Solas, has performed and/or recorded with Ron Kavana, Terry Woods as "the Bucks", The Alias Band, Niamh Parsons and the Loose Connections, Karan Casey, Susan McKeown, and Paul Brennan of Clannad. In September 2003, Mick will release his Shanachie debut as a leader, An Ocean's Breadth.

Just before joining Solas, Deirdre Scanlan released her solo debut, Speak Softly, which attracted widespread praise throughout Ireland. Deirdre possesses one of those ethereal voices that keeps listeners hanging on to her every word. A native of Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, she also appeared on a recording by Nenagh Singers Circle and played fiddle with the Paddy O'Brien Ormond Ceili Band in her home county.

Eamon McElholm is a multi-talented musician, who is also an accomplished singer/songwriter, also plays keyboard and sings background vocals for Solas. He has been touring with Solas since August 2002. Eamon was born and raised in County Tyrone in the North of Ireland. For the last several years he has been heavily involved with the well-known Irish band 'Stockton's Wing' as singer, songwriter and guitarist. A few years ago Eamon was awarded the Performing Rights Society/ John Lennon Songwriters Award, at the time he was a student in Manchester, England.