October 23, 2007 by Karl.

Good morning my friends.
We’re sitting here enjoying the cool breezes the latest “Blue Norther” brought to our doorstep. What a wonderful change from the heat!
Fort Hood was a little disappointing in sales, (5 total), but we met a lot of nice folks and visited with many of our young troops and their families. There must have been two thousand kiddos in the PX the day we were there, and many more on the way, as we saw a lot of pregnant wives too.
We stopped at Camp Mabry in Austin on our way home and visited with the Manager of the PX there. She says they are looking forward to our visit and will put us right out in front of the main entrance to the new PX. We hope to see our Austin military friends there on November 10-11.
Last weekend we revisited Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio and sold 29 more books. Thanks to everyone who purchased a copy.
We received many favorable comments on my novel from people who had purchased it the first time we visited Fort Sam. Everyone wants another book, and we are working on it.
This weekend is one for staying home — at least in Rockport. We will set up at Starbucks once more on Saturday and then be able to attend church on Sunday for the first time in many a week.
On November 1-3, we will be in Fort Worth at Carswell Naval Base Exchange for another book signing. Come see us.
A few more words on the wonderful spirit of our fighting men and women we met at Fort Sam. As I’ve said before, most of these folks will soon become combat medics, helping to save the lives of their fellow servicemen and women. A few of them expressed apprehension at the job they chose, but they aren’t letting that stop them from learning as much as they can to protect and serve our great nation. We shook a lot of hands and said “Thank You” to our wounded warriors who rolled by in wheel chairs or wlked in on artificial legs. We also met veterans of WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, and the Gulf Wars and thanked them too for their service.
On a related subject, have you been viewing the wonderul series entitled simply, “The War” on public TV? If not, take the time to watch part 4 on Wednesday night. You’ll be hooked. What a great tribute to the American spirit of our nation during those trying days.
The next time you see an old man with a ball cap on his head with a message of his military service, take the time to stop him, shake his hand and say, “Thank You”. If it weren’t for men, (and women), like him, we wouldn’t be here living the good life.
I just viewed a video showing the total casualties during WWII, and was amazed to see the total worldwide was over 52,000,000,
civilian and military combined.
When will mankind stop fighting and live in peace?
God only knows.
Maybe we should ask him to intervene. It couldn’t hurt.

With a prayer on my lips for our nation, and our warriors, I’ll leave you until next time,

Via con Dias, my friends,

Karl

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October 13, 2007 by Karl.

Good morning, my friends.

Tomorrow morning we head up to Fort Hood and expect great results from our next book signing. We also look forward to meeting and greeting our young troops.
Sea Fair was SO HOT!! Under our tent it must have been 100 plus; but we sold 39 books, so it was a good three day event. The crowd was sparse due to the weather, but we met many wonderful people who wanted to help us support our troops.
Yesterday, to help our friend, Carla, we spent the afternoon doublebagging Starbucks coffee for our troops. It was a wonderful experience and our eyes grew misty more than once when we read the personal messages the purchasers sent along on the side of the bag.
It’s amazing to see the outpouring of support for our troops. There are a lot of good people in this world who are devoted to them. Makes us proud to be Americans.
But, now, we’re off to deliver the coffee to Carla. Then we’ll return to pack for our trip to Fort Hood. Wish us good luck. If you’re in the vicinity, drop by to chat a while and buy a copy of my book. Thanks in advance,

Until later,
Via con Dias, my friends,

Karl

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October 1, 2007 by Karl.

Good afternoon, my friends,
We returned from our book signing at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio last night, after selling 46 books over the weekend at the Post Exchange.
Thanks to all of you wonderful folks who are helping us support our troops through the Wounded Warrior Project.
We met so many wonderful men and women who had been wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. So many were missing limbs, but they weren’t missing the American spirit that makes us so great! What a wonderful feeling it is to speak with them and hear the pride in their voices at doing a difficult job with a smile on their faces and love of their country in their hearts.
I can’t say enough about how proud we are of them. You should be too.
We had such wonderful and caring customers. Four of them said they didn’t read that much, but gave us a $20 bill and told me to give the book to one of the wounded warriors. How cool is that? We did as they asked and it brought a smile to the faces of those who we presented a book to.
We left the base knowing our troops here in Texas are receiving the best care available. The young students assigned there for training will someday become combat medics - a job not many of us would willingly face. Again, that’s pride in your work. You have to love these guys and gals. We sure do.
I won’t spoil this entry with any more words about book signings. After visiting with these loyal Americans, everything else seems rather trivial.
God Bless our Troops. Please keep them in your hearts and foremost in your prayers.
Via con Dias,
Karl

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