The Northcountry Chronicle

A Bit Silly versus Dangerously Silly

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by W.D. Ehrhart During the recent visit of Britain’s King Charles III to the U.S., I was fascinated to see that in almost every photograph of him, he is sporting a chestful of medals—eight or ten or a dozen of them—and one around his neck the way an American would wear the Medal of Honor, America’s highest decoration for heroism. I found myself wondering what Charles, who at age 77 is a few weeks younger than me, had done to amass such a spectacular array of medals. Charles did serve on active duty in both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy for a …

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On How to Choose a Leader

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By W.D. Ehrhart Given the state of the world these days—endless war in Ukraine, ongoing genocide in Gaza, the unprovoked and ill-considered attack on Iran, and political mayhem here in the United States, we could all use a good laugh. And maybe the funniest movie I’ve ever seen is “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Released originally in 1975, it has held up well over all these years, and I return to it periodically whenever I need to remind myself to laugh. The Frenchman on the castle wall may be the funniest scene (actually two scenes) ever filmed. But the scene that really sticks with …

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“They Cannot Steal Spring from Our Hearts”

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by Rawand Gawad abu Ghanem Regular readers will remember that I’ve shared previous letters from Rawand Gawad abu Ghanem, the young Palestinian mother of two small boys who lives in Gaza and with whom I’ve developed a very real connection through our mutual friend, the playwright Naomi Wallace. I recently received another letter from Rawand, this one dated March 30th, 2026. —Bill Ehrhart Dear Friend, Each day when I open my eyes the first thing that comes to my mind is: I am still alive. I then look quickly to see that my children and husband are still alive also, and I say: Alhamdoulelah. Praise …

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My father, the KC-135, and me

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by Ed Palm If you have been keeping up with the war news, you know that our first major setback was the crash of a KC-135 jet tanker, killing all of the six crew members aboard. Not to make light of that tragedy, but the airplane itself—the KC-135—has long held a special place in my heart. It was on a KC-135 that I once chanced to have an impromptu flying lesson. In July of 1966, my absentee Air Force officer father invited me up to his duty station at the time—the K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He wanted me to get …

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Yet Another Undeclared War

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by W.D. Ehrhart So here we are again, engaged in another war that can only be called “legal” by the most dubious and twisted reasoning while ignoring the right to go to war vested only in Congress by the Constitution. Let’s call this one the “Who-Is-Jeffrey-Epstein-Anyway?” War. And it’s certainly working. Once again, as he has done over and over and over again in his charmed life, our Grifter-in-Chief has evaded responsibility or accountability for his immoral, amoral, criminal behavior. Nevermind if the primary beneficiary of crippling Iran happens to be Israel, a nation that has maintained an apartheid state for over 80 years, has …

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King For a Day

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by W.D. Ehrhart Recently a young man who is in a college ROTC program and about to embark on a career in the U.S. Army seems to have read enough of my writing that he saw similarities between me and the point of view suggested by David Hackworth in his 1990 memoir About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior. My young correspondent, whom I’ll call Emmett, wanted to know if I thought problems like “ticket-punching” and “careerism” still existed in the military, and what he might do to change or at least mitigate them. Did I have any advice for him? “I don’t know …

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