It was 99 years ago on December 20th that my father was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to George F. Stahley (my grandfather seen here holding his son) and my grandmother, Mary Agnes Young Stahley. He was the only child of his adoring parents. Like so many young men of his generation, he eagerly enlisted in the United States Armed Forces to fight the forces of fascism that were already on the march in Europe and Asia the day this photograph was snapped in 1925.
Upon entering the US Navy in 1943, he volunteered for service on the PT boats which, like service on submarines, was considered to be highly dangerous and involved risks that went far beyond that of other assignments. Every sailor on a submarine or a PT boat was there because they freely opted to be there, fully aware of the level of risk for which they signed up.
From my years of research on my father’s service and the fortuitous opportunity to speak with other PT veterans who served with him during 1944 and 1945, what I’ve learned represents only a minute fraction of what he experienced during his days in the Mediterranean and the South Pacific. The accounts provided by those vets and declassified WWII documents (thanks again, Dave!) have filled in some of the gaps, for which I am deeply grateful. Still, those gaps in knowledge feel as deep as the Grand Canyon.
When my father passed away on November 13, 1999, a few weeks before his 75th birthday, I was only beginning to scratch the surface of the more harrowing events that marked his fraught, harrowing days on the PT boats as well as the PT bases where enemy planes routinely strafed. In one of our final conversations before his death, I told him–again–how proud of him I was and that I would write about his valiant service in the Mediterranean and the South Pacific. With a faint smile and a nod, he let me know that he understood. At that point, he was very near the end; I can only hope that I eased my father’s passage from this life to the next.
On the anniversary of his death, I remember him with bottomless gratitude, love, and an admiration that grows more immense with each passing year. So I will raise a glass and salute his memory and remind myself of all that I received from him. It feels almost impossible to believe the coming year of 2024 will mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.
On this day, 82 years ago, my father George “Red” Stahley was a sixteen-year-old boy, a junior at Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia. On that Sunday morning, the news went out that the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, had come under attack by the armed forces of Imperial Japan.
Before that day ended, my father had made the decision that he would enlist in the US Navy as soon as he graduated from high school in the Spring of 1943. He kept that decision to himself for many months. As an only child of two loving, very devoted parents, he knew his enlistment would be a heavy burden for them to
As it was for so many young Americans from every part of the country, December 7th was a day that changed the course of his life. With profound gratitude, we remember the lives of all those young Americans whose courage, determination, and selflessness changed the history of our nation and the world. They stepped up to do whatever had to be done to defeat the forces of fascism that were on the march in Asia and Europe.
While we owe that generation of Americans a debt that can never be fully repaid, we are in a position to do everything that we can do to repel the forces of Fascism that are, again, at work to subvert our democracy here at home and around the world. May we never waver in our determination to stay strong and push back against the enemies of democracy who follow in the footsteps of Hitler and Mussolini while praising murderous dictators like Vladimir Putin who launch unprovoked attacks on neighboring countries, bombing civilians and kidnapping children.
The anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor is a day for remembering that the protection of democracy is a duty that belongs to every American citizen in every generation. Let us rise to the occasion and do everything we can to ensure that our country lives up to the noble words enshrined in our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
As the proud son of a PT veteran who served in both the European and Pacific theaters of WWII, my admiration and interest in the Navy career of John F. Kennedy dates back to the mid 1950s when his rising political career brought him into the national spotlight. Growing up, I thought of Kennedy the way I thought of many of my father’s close friends who had served US Armed forces during the war. Like Phil Cameron, Joe Mulhern, Dick Sweeney, and my uncles Frank and Ed, Kennedy felt more like a member of my extended family than a skilled politician who was getting lots of publicity.
The tragic, catastrophic murder of Kennedy on November 22, 1963 brought the reality of death into my twelve-year old life for the first time. It felt like a jagged knife slicing through my ribs and into the core of my being. The shock, sorrow, and trauma of that day left a residue inside that has remained with me to this day.
We have now passed the 60th anniversary of that grotesquely monstrous day in Dallas when JFK’s life came to a brutal, savage end in the most public way possible. For those of us who grew up under the long shadow of this enormous loss, it is past time to step into the light of truth.
The day has come for a sober, fearless appraisal of what was really going on. And critical mass is building towards the disclosures that have been concealed from the American people for over six decades. In this post, I want to recommend some of the amazing sources that have become available to anyone who wants to start peeling away the brittle crust of lies, deceptions, and official denials that have kept the truth hidden since that horrible day in Dallas;
JFK: What the doctors saw: A brilliant documentary that is now showing on the Paramount Plus cable platform features interviews with the doctors (pictured above) who began to treat Kennedy in the minutes after his arrival at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on 11/23/63. At the time. they were young surgeons, neurosurgeons, residents, and medical students. What they saw in that trauma room on that awful day gives the lie to the official reports that were put out by the government regarding the fatal wounds suffered by the president. The doctors were threatened by government officials to stay silent about what that saw. What they saw changes EVERYTHING about what we’ve been told.
Who Killed JFK? A podcast now available for free on Spotify features an excellent narrative by the famed director/actor Rob Reiner and the distinguished journalist Soledad O’Brien. They’ve decided to bring their years of vast experience in the fields of film making, journalism, and research to bear on “the greatest unsolved murder mystery” in American history. Their narrative, narration, and sources are revealing and–in many cases–shocking. They bring the story of JFK’s murder to life with inescapable power and verve.
JFK Facts: A superb, beautifully produced substack resource by the distinguished journalist and researcher, Jeff Morley. His subscription email service provides daily updates on the ongoing disclosures regarding the assassination and the ongoing legal battles to get key government documents released to the American public. We have a right to know.
My passion on this issue is directly related to the memory of my father, George “Red” Stahley, who like his fellow PT sailor, John F. Kennedy, put himself in harm’s way in WWII to serve our nation. Like JFK, Red Stahley saw action in the South Pacific, saw crewmates die, and came home with the emotional scars, nightmares, and bone-deep fears that haunted him through his dying day on November 13, 1999. Long before the term “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” was even used, PT vets like my father and JFK knew PTSD in every fiber of every muscle, sinew and ligament of their young bodies. And PTSD does not age well.
Let me close with these two points–two points that have now been verified by credible sources:
The “lone gunman” theory propounded by the Warren Commission is absolute fiction. There was at least one other shooter on that day whose bullet came into Kennedy’s body from the front. You don’t have to take it from me–listen to what the Parkland Hospital doctors tell you.
Lee Harvey Oswald was under surveillance by the CIA from 1959 through November 1963. On the way to his execution by Jack Ruby on November 24, 1963, Oswald was shouting to the press, “I’m a patsy.” You don’t have to take it from me–listen to Jeff Morley and his highly qualified colleagues to learn how deeply the CIA was involved with Lee Harvey Oswald from his time as a teenager..
The young president who was taken from us on November 22, 1963 was far from a perfect human being and I will be the first to admit that. What is indisputable, however, is that he was a brave Navy veteran who served his country with indominable courage, resilience, and character. Kennedy was elected to the presidency in 1960 by a majority of the American people. As a member of the US Navy, as a congressman, senator, and president he swore an oath to protect and defend the US Constitution. There can be no dispute that this man did his duty.
Enough is enough. So says this PT Splinter who wants the truth to come into the light. We’ve lived in the shadows for over sixty years. We can HANDLE the truth. And we demand it.
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. Like so many other Americans, that day is frozen in my memory as well as my bones and every sinew in my body. As a twelve-year-old boy in the seventh grade, it felt as though the weight of history collapsed on me like an avalanche of grief, shock, and unbelief. What seemed unreal and unimaginable had arrived at the doorstep of my consciousness and there was no way to make it go away.
It would take years–decades–for the full irony of that terrible day to fully settle in my mind. As a young naval officer and the skipper of a PT boat in the South Pacific, Kennedy had survived the destruction of his boat, the death of crewmates, and the harrowing swim to a remote island in hostile waters with the chances of rescue even more remote than the desolate patch of ocean real estate on which he found himself and his surviving crewmates.
With some good luck, the keen eye of an Australian coast watcher and brave island scouts working with the Allies, Kennedy and his intrepid crew were rescued in that fateful August of 1943.
A little over twenty years after his heroic WWII service had helped him win the presidency in 1960, Kennedy would be murdered in his own country on a street in a major American city. At the very pinnacle of his political career, his life was snatched away as bullets rained down on his motorcade from multiple locations. Everything about his death felt wrong, shrouded in mystery, and a loss beyond the furthest reaches of the imagination.
If that is not the very definition of irony, I don’t know what is.
One day, perhaps sooner than we realize, the layers of this tragic event will be disclosed and answers too long delayed will come to light. Ugly truths, long concealed, will one day be exhumed like long buried, rotted bodies and the record will at last be set straight.
In the meantime, let us pause on the anniversary of the death of President Kennedy to remember once again that heroism, idealism, and courage under fire are qualities that are not reserved for the great figures of history. As American citizens, we, too, can exercise those virtues and they are needed now more than ever as our precious democracy labors to repel the vile threats that seek to undermine it.
May the example of JFK inspire us to do all we can in service of our nation and our constitution.
On this Veterans Day 2023, we remember and give thanks for all those brave men and women who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States over the course of our nation’s history. We owe them all a debt that could never be repaid.
During the past few years in our country, a time marked by chaos, polarization, and outright threats to the very structure of our democracy, I have been remembering the Civil War era when the nation was bitterly torn apart over the issue of slavery. The fundamental question became whether this nation could survive and remain faithful to its Declaration of Independence which declared that “all men were created equal.” What I remember, with profound gratitude, are those who enlisted the army and navy to fight for the preservation of the Union and the elimination of slavery as the nation erupted into civil war.
And it was those hundreds of thousands of ordinary soldiers and sailors who rendered extraordinary service in places like Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Shiloh, Antietam, Petersburg, Cold Harbor, the Wilderness and other places too numerous to mention who maintained the United States of America and defeated the Confederacy which was determined to preserve slavery and all the evils represented by that vile, vicious institution.
On this Veterans Day, may the spirit of those fearless patriots who were victorious in the Civil War summon all of us to work tirelessly for the noble principles on which this nation was founded. As I look at photographs of those sailors and soldiers who stood forthrightly for freedom, equality, and justice, I see in their faces the willingness to do whatever was necessary to make the United States of America the country described so powerfully in the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
There is reporting that the Ukrainian armed forces successfully deployed cruise missiles to heavily damage a Russian vessel in a shipyard in the Crimean port city of Kerch on Saturday, November 4th. The damaged ship was one that carried Kaliber cruise missiles which have been among Russia’s weapons of choice for attacking Ukrainian cities.
With careful planning and an extremely high level of technical precision, the attack on the Crimean shipyard offers yet more evidence of how skillfully the Ukrainians are using their resources in this brutal war. Despite the enormous imbalance between Russia and Ukraine, the creative and tireless Ukrainian people are holding their own against the forces of fascism, unprovoked aggression, and murderous violence.
In the darkest days of World War II, it was that same spirit of defiant resistance that drew my father and so many of his young peers to enlist in the US Armed Forces to stand against the brutal, militaristic fascism represented by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The wave of young Americans stepping up to serve in 1942 and 1943 had no guarantee that these nihilistic aggressors could be stopped. Those young, idealistic Americans were undeterred in their determination to turn back the evil of fascism, whatever the cost.
And the cost was enormous as we know all too well.
While Putin-loving Republicans in the US House of Representatives do everything they can to delay and obstruct the resources needed by the Ukrainians, the intrepid fighting forces of Ukraine continue to demonstrate that their fighting spirit is undiminished. Like the overmatched PT crews in the Mediterranean, the Aleutian Islands, the English Channel, and the South Pacific, the Ukrainian men and women on the front lines will not be deterred. And they will not be defeated.
Despite the resistance of the anti-democratic, fascist favoring GOP, the vast majority of the American people know right from wrong as they did during the early days of WWII. And the support for our Ukrainian allies will win out in the end. Fascism will be defeated, both abroad and in our own beloved country.
Motor Torpedo Boat (PT) crews stand on the forecastle of one of four anchored boats for a conference, Massacre Bay, Attu, Aleutians, Alaska, 1943 or 1944. A motor launch passes behind them. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
In the crystal blue waters of the Aleutian Islands, PT crewmen attend a meeting on the deck of one of their boats. This rare color photo offers a vivid glimpse of the PTs and serves as a reminder that in addition to the Mediterranean and the South Pacific during WWII, the Mosquito Fleet was deployed to the Aleutian Archipelago. There, off the coast of Alaska, they held the line against the forces of Imperial Japan.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
As he finishes his distinguished military career after serving as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley embodies the core values of the United States Armed Forces. He is a person of integrity, decency, honor, and courage.
At his retirement ceremony last week, General Milley spoke eloquently and forcefully about the oath that all members of the military take upon entering their service to our nation. It was the same oath my father, Red Stahley, took as a teenager when he enlisted in the US Navy to fight in WWII. Abiding by that oath carried Red and his fellow PT sailors into harm’s way as they fought off German fighter planes in the Mediterranean and engaged with Japanese artillery batteries in the South Pacific.
By standing firm for the American Constitution and the Rule of Law, Milley was an anchor of stability during a time of a sustained, chaotic attempt to overthrow the pillars of our democracy. Our nation owes a debt of immense gratitude to a leader of unshakable character and resolute fortitude. I have no doubt that history will be kind to this soldier who followed his oath with dignity and grace under enormous pressure.
As for the well-publicized, baseless, and deranged attacks on General Milley, all that needs to be said is this: consider the source.
As the noble people of Ukraine continue to defend themselves against the merciless, unjustified aggression of Russia, our nation needs to do everything possible to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the tools they need to beat back Russian aggression.
Supporting Ukraine is an investment in defending democracy–not only in Europe but across the globe. Their fight is our fight. The pro-Russian sympathizers in the US Congress are as ignorant as they are spineless. The American people need to let their elected representatives know that we either stop Putin now or his next conquest will be against one of our NATO allies in Eastern Europe which will bring our country into a direct confrontation with Russia.
With the same spirit that animated the PT crews of the US Navy in WWII, the brave Ukrainian fighters are putting their lives on the line every day for all the values that we as Americans hold dear.
Using arial and naval drones, the Ukrainian armed forces continue to exact an enormous toll on the Russian fleet as the war grinds on with no end in sight. The tactical savvy of the Ukrainians has shown the Russian navy that no ship is safe, whether on the high seas or in port. The undiminished fighting spirit of the Ukrainians has inspired me deeply as I follow the news reports of their victories on land and sea.
Like the PT crews of the US Navy in WWII, the Ukrainian fighters have shown remarkable adaptability, resilience, and verve in their relentless fight against a larger and better armed adversary. As they dismantle the Russian fleet ship by ship, the Ukrainians are changing the face of naval warfare.
PT Boat Red 