During my time at The White House, I had the great privilege of working with some of the brightest people our country has to offer. One of those people is Richard Keil. At that time, Dick was working for Bloomberg News. We had the wonderful experience of chasing President George W. Bush all over the known universe. Dick has assigned me the #4. Heres how it works: I list 4 things you probably dont know about me, and if you like my status (as I did his) Ill eventually get around to assigning you a randomly-chosen number between 2 and 7, and you do the same. So, here goes... 1. In August of 1945 my grandfather, Marine Corporal W.W. Curly Gatlin was on a ship headed for the unknown. He was set to be a part of the largest amphibious assault in U.S. Military history... Operation Downfall... The mainland assault on the Empire of Japan... While en route, on August 6th and again on August 9th, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively. Japan surrendered to the United States 6 days later on August 15th. Had Operation Downfall happened, it is believed that the U.S. death toll could have been as high as 1 million. It is likely that I would not be here to write this post, had those bombs not been dropped. As an aside, my grandfather is not a former Marine or an ex-Marine... Hes just an 86 year old Marine not currently on active duty. Oorah! 2. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like. 3. While in Egypt in 2007 with my wife Tracy Gatlin, and other good friends George Gigicos and Eric Ochmanek, we hired a group of Bedouins to lead us on camels to the top of Mt. Sinai. We left at 2am and arrived at the summit just as the sun was rising. It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. Its no wonder thats where Moses went to talk to God. 4. I believe that Lonesome Dove, written by Larry McMurtry, is the greatest novel ever written. I suppose that some might find it silly that one of my true heroes is a fictitious character, but I dont mind. On many a day, I ask myself... What would Captain Augustus McCrae do? Read it. And if you do, as you turn the final page, you too may find that you have a new hero.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 06:24:48 +0000
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