Michael Bleriot

Recently I learned an interesting tradition in parts of Europe:  people wear poppies to remember soldiers fallen in war, a tradition started after World War I and memorialized in the poem In Flanders Field.  However, they wear marigolds to remember civilians killed in the fighting.  An example is in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where bombing raids by both the Allies and Germans killed thousands of Dutch civilians in the city between 1940 and 1945.  Citizens there remember the civilian casualties each year in late February with a ceremony, and many wear golden marigolds pinned to their lapels.

Hello and welcome to March (almost)!  Just a note to let you know I've posted all these books to Booksprout.com, where you can check out the books for free in exchange for a promise to write a review at Amazon or Goodreads.  Reviews are gold for struggling authors like me so please take advantage of this opportunity to read three exciting books IN THEIR ENTIRETY, in exchange for reviews.  Thanks, and have a great day!

In February of 1942, Colonel Ira Eaker arrived in England to lay the groundwork for a buildup of American aircraft and airmen that would eventually join the British and other allies in taking the war to Germany.  Eaker was the leader and primary advocate for high-altitude precision daylight bombing, which at the time was the American strategy to destroy German industries' ability to support German troops.  The British were glad to see him arrive and anxious to see America get into the fight quickly, and the story of how that happened is a fascinating one to read.  I recommend the book "Air Force Spoken Here" as a good first start.

Later in February we'll mark the anniversary of Big Week, the pilots' term for Operation ARGUMENT during World War II.  It was a 6-day all-out, concentrated, relentless bombing campaign against Germany by the Allied forces, done with the strategic intent of destroying both German industry and the Luftwaffe - especially the German fighter planes and pilots - in order to prepare for the Allied invasion of France in June 1944.  I'll be posting a few stories specific to that campaign beginning on February 20th.

According to the TicoTimes, a publication in Costa Rica, Panama has the highest number of known Covid-19 infections in Central America, with more than 300,000 infected and 4,864 dead since the start of the pandemic.  This is in a population of about 4.2 million.  In addition, 50,000 people are in home isolation and there are about 2,600 hospitalized.  That's at least twice the suspected U.S death rate from the China virus so you can see why the population there is concerned.

Due to the China virus and the carefree response to it of the Nicaraguan government, all major commercial airlines have stopped flying to Managua.  Residents must travel to other countries in Central America if they want to catch a flight.  There are rumors that the almost-bankrupt Colombian airline, Avianca, will fly from Panama City to Managua once a week to take advantage of the demand but that isn't certain.  I mention this because I lived in Central America for several years 25 years ago and Nicaragua (and Honduras, and El Salvador) haven't improved since then.  In fact, they've slid backwards.  The problems of crime, drugs, and corruption have combined in Nicaragua's case with a self-styled communist government to create almost a failed state, where they don't even report virus statistics in order to hide the disaster unfolding.