What’s with the Penis Bone of a Walrus?
It is still 1965. This is not a war zone. It is a survival zone – physically and psychologically. Lose respect for the elements here, and they will devour you in seconds. Take the young airman who jumped off the end of the pier into ice-filled North Star Bay. He was drunk. He was going to swim home to his mother. This…
Foreign Relations the right way in Greenland
It is the land of “the midnight sun.” In Greenland, time was not just measured by clocks it was measured by light, or the lack of it. From May through August, the sun never sets. From November through January, total darkness. During spring and fall, the transitions happen fast. While it is not like a ride to the moon, your body and…
The Rescue That Taught Me That Discipline Was Not Optional
In 1965, I learned firsthand that the greatest danger at Thule Air Force Base in northwestern Greenland was not an enemy. Instead, I soon discovered it was the environment. Thule was a remote Arctic outpost, just 700 miles from the North Pole. At the time, about 6,000 military personnel and 2,000 Danish construction workers lived there. Once anyone stepped beyond the boundaries,…
