Blessed Palm Beach WiFi
I’m sitting in the Palm Beach airport waiting hours to board & run the Delta Airlines gauntlet. My trip to Palm Beach was pretty amazing, as I got to sit and talk with Cara’s 90-something grandfather, General William Ely. Possibly the highlight of the trip was reading a letter Bill wrote to his wife Helen during a recon in Japan right after the end of WWII. Bill was one of the first Americans to survey the site of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion, and his reactions and observations at the time are fascinating. He showed us a hand-colored map of the destruction which was made for him by Japanese officers. Most impressive was Bill’s written desire to immediately begin helping the Japanese rebuild - even though the bloody and brutal Pacific war had just ended. Bill and Helen are a testiment to the greatness of the American spirit, and I feel very lucky to have been able to meet and speak with them.
