I am so PROUD of my Dad! He can do something that I want to eventually do. He writes books! The books above are most of the books he's written. He has written books since I was a kid. The market he writes for predominantly is WWII aviation, although he has written about the Air Force's "jet age" a few times, which I actually like. Anyway, he is quite the accomplished author, and I am so impressed with what he does. He is currently writing another book, although he has said to me that this next book is his most nearest and dearest to his heart as it has to do with the time he was growing up on a particular Air Force Base in the sixties. Definitely looking forward to reading this one.

The thing about my Dad's writing is that it takes so much time and preparation for research, that I am amazed that he has the patience to do it...I certainly do not. Hell, I almost torched my apartment in college twice in frustration over my senior thesis...and that was a lousy 40 page paper! But, these are actual bound books. And he does a damn fine job at writing them, conceptualizing them, editing them, approving artwork for them, and frankly, selling them. His office is basically a shrine to all things Air Force, which is great, but that his current office used to be my bedroom when I lived at home. Weird to think that that place he visions his books is where I used to kiss the finest of young ladies...but then again, they were kissing me back so it was all worth it!

Man, I just checked out Amazon, and one of my Dad's out of print books is running for a smooth $219!!! Now, I have to ask...do you think my Dad sees any of that scratch? Not a one. That sucks! Makes me want to call this evil bookseller and explain to him a thing called royalties...now that I think about it, can one earn them off used books? They should.

It's funny when I am at my parents house. My Dad gets mail from all over the US and the world for that matter. I mean tons of mail...pictures of airplanes mostly, and stories of those airplanes. He gets boxes of stuff...it's awesome when you start digging through this history. You realize the sacrifice, horror and reality that men went through during WWII, and you find a deeper respect for them when you connect stories and pictures, and actually get to talk to some of these guys. So for me, it is through my Dad's work, that I have this deeply ingrained respect for ANY and ALL veterans who have served this country. Even though I might have some political differences with our current President, I continue to pray for and support our troops who are, well, doing what they do, even though maybe like a majority of us, they have no idea why they are doing what they do. I guess my heart goes out to veterans in this country, both older and younger. People who willingly and decisively lay their bodies on the line for me and my generation are to be applauded and given firm handshakes of thank yous. I have also found myself over the years wanting to learn more about Vietnam, and how that war was what it was...costly in all aspects. Talking to those vets is eye opening! I definitely respect our Vietnam vets who fought in an unpopular war during an unpopular time...thanks so much for what you gave guys!

So, if you are interested in maybe checking out my Dad's books, go to schifferbooks.com and do an author search. And if you run into a vet or a troop, thank them for what they did and are doing...they are often moved by that small gesture of thanks, and genuinely appreciate it. More later...