I HOISTED MY FLAG AT DAWN TODAY, 6 JUNE 2024, in solemn remembrance of the fallen, of my late geology professor who was present that day on Utah Beach, and of my late father (P-51 pilot, who witnessed the Nuremburg Trials of the fascist leaders of that Age) and of my late brother (USN Nuclear submarine reactor officer, as like Pres. Carter). 

The flag's stars represent that Vision Splendid which was borne of the Age of Enlightenment and Reason and which inspired the tolerance and compassionate reason-based vision the Founding Fathers sincerely hoped would be progressively advanced by future generations - in the hopes that we may raise the standard to which the honest and the honorable can repair.

SEMPER SUMMUM BONUM, ET VERITAS. HONORE et VIRTUTE. Always the highest good, and truth! Honor and virtue. (A tribute to Marcus Tullius Cicero's treatise, "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" and the ancient - 9th century perhaps - family crest and coat of arms)

May their service and sacrifice be remembered long, and may they rest in peace, as all good men and women hope the world some day will at long last rest for the sake of future generations of the living. 'Live simply. God is among us." Linne 

This day is made more somber by virtue of the fact that a large percentage of some population seem once again inclined toward misguided fascist leadership, a great tragedy and loss for any free nation, for democracy and for Western civilization. 

Therefore, may all those who once gave the last full measure of their devotion to defend that equal liberty and justice which democracy alone can provide for all diverse peoples, all those who defeated fascism in Europe some eight decades ago, now inspire modern Americans to prevent the rise of such fascist horror again.

The love of and hunger and thirst for truth and justice is itself a divine attribute and must never be abandoned. https://www.abmc.gov/d-day80

TO THE 'AGE of ENLIGHTENMENT and REASON' we pledged our sacred honor. Semper summum bonum, et veritas! Always the highest good and TRUTH! Cicero c 45 BCE

MANLY P.  HALL (Author of “The Secret Destiny of America): “When man’s thoughts rise upon the wings of aspiration, when he pushes back the darkness with the strength of reason and logic, then indeed the builder is liberated from his dungeon and the light pours in, bathing him with life and power. These higher ideals, these spiritual concepts, these altruistic, philanthropic and educative applications glorify God. When man can mold his thoughts, his motives, and his actions into faithful expressions of the highest ideals, then liberty is his.”

"Barbarism ends with the beginning of world civilization [meaning civilized behavior and goodwill among nations according to rule of international law] . To be 'civilized', according to Cicero, is to reach that state of personal and collective behavior in which men can live together harmoniously and constructively, united for the betterment of all. By this definition, we have never been civilized. We have existed in a state of cultured savagery."

“When the mob governs, man is ruled by ignorance; when the church governs, he is ruled by superstitions; and when the state governs, he is ruled by fear. Before men can LIVE TOGETHER IN HARMONY AND UNDERSTANDING, ignorance must be transmuted into wisdom, superstition into an illuminated faith, and fear into love.”

"Reason alone is heartless; feeling alone is mindless, but these two blended together temper justice with mercy and kindliness with strength."

In solemn memory of my brother, Michael (Micah-El or 'Micah of God' in the original Hebrew), I share on this benign and auspicious occasion one of the subjects of our quite frequent philosophical discussions, he and I being forever true patriots and lovers of reason and goodwill. 

WASHINGTON: “As mankind become more liberal they will be more apt to allow, that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the Community are equally entitled to the protection of civil Government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations in examples of justice and liberality.” 15 Mar 1790 

“It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States . . . gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” 1 Jan 1790 

FRANKLIN: "The rapid Progress true Science now makes, occasions my Regretting sometimes that I was born so soon. It is impossible to imagine the Height to which may be carried in a 1000 Years the Power of Man over Matter. ... O that moral Science were in as fair a Way of Improvement, that Men would cease to be Wolves to one another, and that human Beings would at length learn what they now improperly call Humanity." Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Joseph Priestley, 8 February 1780  

JEFFERSON: "I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as a civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." Southeast Portico

A Portion of THE MCDERMOTT FAMILY ARCHIVES including research collected by James McDermott III (b 1961, a child of the era of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and later Justice William McDermott Brennan) and also the  original research conducted in Ireland by our mother's elder brother, Joseph Doyle (seen posing as a boy in the famous Guinness Book of World Records beside the world's tallest man, c 1920s, hotel lobby, Joliet, IL). Uncle Joe once gave me a sample of a half billion yr old trilobite, which I treasure fondly to this day. "We are the Ancients." Sagan "Judge and ye shall be judged." Joshua "That it comes only once IS what makes life so sweet." "Of all the souls that stand create, I have elected one." E. Dickenson "May the best prove truest, for Justice with her shining eyes LIGHTS the WAY." Aeschylus "Perpetually study, learn, and go forth to see the WORLD!" JGM

Michael and I think we all greatly loved and honored our father and mother. In honor of our father, James II, and all those airmen and pilots who while stationed in southern England, defended England, the Free World, democracy, Western Civilization and our allies during the 'Second War to End All Wars' - the great war against the evils of Fascism, WW2. 

Here our father James, at the age of 21 in 1944, is training at a base in Florida, Ft. Benton Bradley.  He flew several sorties over the Rhein Valley in the final weeks of the war in Europe with his P-51 squadron, being shot at only once, and then said to likely be a sleepless and trigger-happy artilleryman in Patton's army.

We face a similar threat today, but as Churchill once opined, "From the depths of human pain and suffering shall be reborn, humanity."

And Isaiah: "He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their weapons into agricultural instruments, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up weapons against nation, neither shall there be war anymore." 

And Washington's vision for the future nation in which we now hope to live: “As mankind become more liberal they will be more apt to allow, that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the Community are equally entitled to the protection of civil Government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations in examples of justice and liberality.”  “It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States . . . gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”  15 Mar 1790 and 1 Jan 1790 

When I shared my stories kayaking near seals, Orca 'whales,' and porpoises, Micheal once spoke of how commonly, when at the surface and on deck on the conning tower, while underway, porpoises - or dolphins - would gather in sizable groups to play like adolescents amidst the unusual hydrodynamics created near the bow of the ship. One may also find video of this phenomenon online these days.

1963 (Above) Michael (right) at play underneath the great cherry trees with James.

1966 (below) Our cousin, Thomas (son of Aunt Eileen), as 'Santa' awarding little William with a gift - not a lump of coal as I recollect.

"Afoot and lighthearted I travel the open road." "I think there really is no death. . . . that a leaf of grass is no less than a journeywork of the stars." Whitman - Leaves of Grass, more a person than a book.

July 1984. I visited Mike for nearly two weeks whilst he was stationed at America's Atlantic submarine base in New London, CT. His home was located in Groton, CT, not a far cry from the place where FDR attended a private school. It was in Washington D.C. at the Pentagon, where Mike was among the last few nuclear office candidates to interview with the founder of the nuclear navy, Admiral Rickover. Mike said he sawed a back leg on the interviewees chair short, to gage to candidate's reaction to sudden stress. When an officer was called in to explain a problem, the famously harsh Admiral required that officers select a number from a list of 20 common excuses posted outside his door. State the Excuse Number and no further explanation was generally desired. Prepared them for combat I suppose, where errors could result in a fatality with no time or 'need' for excuses. 

I visited only the outer lower-security section of the base, but he pointed to the tall steel - tankless dive tower and to the concrete bunker area in the inner 'sanctum' where nuclear secrets were studied only within a windowless concrete bunker guarded by two marines with automatic weapons at the ready.

Mike and I, in the mid-90s, visited several of the tall ships at the Chicago River and the old un-renovated WWI-era Navy Pier. I could find no images I had taken of Mike on the ships; this he snapped of myself, on call for some tech job i was then working while I grew my home business in web design in the early years when small to mid-sized businesses were skeptical anything would ever come of the novel idea of the internet.


We were also at Navy Pier for the first Chicagofest in the summer of 1978, where I found a lone spot on the side of the stage while the bands, Chicago, and Orleans performed. The whole pier was like a sardine can, with crowds far beyond normal capacity. I've no photos of the event, but what a day it was!

He was an electrical engineer, submariner, & a nuclear reactor officer, He would be 62 had COVID not struck. He followed in our father James’ footsteps, a P-51 pilot in southern England during the last rise of Fascism (WW2); Mike interviewed with Adm Rickover, studied nuclear secrets in a bunker under armed marine guard in New London, & served in the Cold war in the Atlantic, holding Russians & dogmatic religious extremism at bay.

The family tree is traced to 350 A.D. in Roman Brittannia & another Michael in the era of Elizabeth I. As children we played underneath towering cherry trees which produced bushels, lost in a storm. He & I once swam across & canoed the raging Fox River. Impactful books he read in his teens: “Chariots of the Gods,” Caesar’s “Gallic Wars,”  “Brave New World,” & his calculus & physics;” I, “David Copperfield” & Sagan’s “Dragons of Eden” + “Braca’s Brain.” Captivated by aircraft & the Apollo program we pursued careers in engineering & science, saw Nixon’s resignation in ’74, and I the 1st Space Shuttle Launch in ’81. Pursuing understanding he explored engineering & I the geologic record, memorization of the Sermon-on-the-Mount (Matt 5-9), “the most beautiful philosophy the world shall ever know.” [Franklin] & 'was made a Mason.'

Captivated by electronics, radio, & invention, we set up a CB ‘base’ & 20' antenna, broadcasting as ‘Golden Eagle.' At the Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, I pursued geology & he ‘EE’; I studied philosophy while he sailed the Mediterranean silently tracking Russian subs. Geology-Astronomy led me to access to the observatory in Urbana, live views of the polar caps & dust storms on Mars, summiting the Tetons, publication of a USGS geologic map in Utah & superfund site studies or reviews working on Kodiak Island to the Cascades & Midwest. Michael later worked with secret Defense contracts devoted to non-lethal weapons alternatives. We lived together on the lake at Granville, sharing Grant Park Concerts, memories & plans. 

A REMEMBRANCE OF MY BROTHER UPON THE OCCASION OF THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEPARTURE AND SHEDDING OF THIS MORTAL COIL WE KNOW AS THE SELF.

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." Emily Dickinson "With much wisdom comes sorrow, but wisdom is better than folly just as light is better than darkness." Solomon

Including my brother, Michael, COVID-19 deaths in the United States as of this day now exceed 670,000, a number greater than that of the number of Americans lost in WWII. 

Whether Sept 11th or our current Pandemic battle, more rarely do we remember the number of lives saved by preventative and mitigating actions: Those who have worn masks and have maintained distancing, therefore, have saved nearly 4.3 million lives in the United States alone (1.5% mortality).  The ancients have said that which was given force and put into motion by the Good Samaritan, "To save one life is to save the world."

JUSTITIA DEBETUR QUOD HOMO HOMINI, SIT DEUS, NON LUPUS. SEMPER FIDELIS, MICHAE-EL (Michah of God). SPES MEA IN DEO EST. 

A Whitmanian poem I now dedicate to Michael: 

"A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation. Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic, . . . 
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves. . . . 

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?

They are alive and well somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death."



"I know we will meet again some sunny day." 

Remembering Mike's service and also our father's service to the founding benevolent democratic ideals of the nation (E PLURIBUS UNUM, from the plurality of the many, unity), and to democracy itself, the former while stationed with the Sculpin in the Mediterranean, and the latter while stationed in England, serving alongside the RAF and the Allies as a P-51 pilot, service to a nation and to nations and people rightly and fundamentally opposed to the Fascism of the WWII era - affable individuals of goodwill and bearing the finest work ethic, with not an iota of pettiness or materialism between them - the same true of our good mother. 

Our father served in France in Grave's Registration after the second 'War to End All Wars', and saw the evidence of the Holocaust there. He said he was present on one day for the Trials at Nuremburg. I have known many a veteran of that and other wars, all having seen the worst that men can do to one another, and who found themselves fervently opposed to war (except most soberly as last resort), and also the flaws in human nature - bigotries, greed, and selfishness among them - which give rise to discord and to wars or Fascism. Goethe: "Noble be man, merciful and good." 

A youtube post dedicated to the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill will serve to represent the magnitude of the feeling of gratitude. Ref: Sir Winston Churchill - Funeral (I Vow To Thee) - The Nation's Farewell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Xkr8z3lEo&t=

Michael and the USS SCULPIN (USN) at Toulon, France 1986. This Sculpin - the second submarine so designated - was launched just a few months prior to Mike's birth.

OCT 1986: From the USS SCULPIN: Mike dispatched this post card to me, on the occasion of my birthday anniversary (we've only one birth day of course), from the Sculpin's temporary port of call in Toulon, France - aka the French Riviera - where he and crew enjoyed two weeks of French hospitality and sunshine.  I also retain many other letters and cards shared by my sister Laura as well as by Mike. Laura wrote from her posts whilst devoted to the U.S. Army and its good work in New Jersey, Colorado and later the DMZ in South Korea. 

FYI: Many seem to have forgotten that were it not for the assistance of France, the United States might never have come into existence, and our Founders would have been hanged.  Therefore, VIVA LA FRANCE and VIVA LA LAFAYETTE! Rousseau ('Du Contrat Social') and Voltaire as well: "Someday, all shall be well." Voltaire

As Micheal, at age 18, departed to return to his studies in physics and electrical engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana, in January 1979, I asked him to pause for a quick image acquired with my old Pentax-K1000; I developed the film in those days (contrast a bit to great, but such is life). He was a member of the engineering fraternity Pi Kappa Phi, located two blocks north of the stadium. I joined him on campus to study engineering, chemistry and geoscience, in August 1980.

Michael's first wife, Laura McDermott (nee Johnson; married circa 1982) if I recall correctly), left center, along with her close friends, Mike's youngest brother and sister, William and Laura, circa 1977. I saw Michael and Laura off to their new home in Idaho Falls, ID, driving his black 280Z, where Mike was to study nuclear science and engineering. They experienced the Mag 6.9 !! 28 Oct 1983 Mount Borah earthquake event whilst there.  Mike reported that they were awoken by the violent shaking before dawn, observing the cat apparently 'levitating' above their dresser very briefly. I knew Laura quite well, and both Mike and I admired here parents. Intense study occupied most of Mike's time in those years, as when I visited him in 1984 in Groton, CT, where he studied in a concrete bunker facility with armed marine guards at the entrance.

Sister Dorothy, Laura and family, I am so sorry for your loss. My sincere condolences. Prayers
Geri Radivich 

Mike and Laura at Wrigley to see the World Champion Cubs

My deepest sympathies to the Mcdermott family. May his memory be eternal, Godspeed.
Love
Byrne Family

He was a very Special man. I know Joanne really cared for him and talked about him alot. Thought of him as family. Laura Sister Dorthy
My prayers and heart is with you💗😗☹️😥🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼RIP

Mike with Aunt Jean , and his late wife, Shadia

"That it comes only once IS what makes life so sweet." 

Michael was a true friend and brother, the sole family member with whom I could speak at length regarding matters of philosophy, theology, science, nature, wisdom, the original noble tolerant and compassionate liberal vision of the Founder of Christianity (Mt chp 5-9) and the Founders of the U.S.A. Not unlike our mother, he suffered a traumatic brain injury in an auto accident, in his case a hit-and-run near Loyola campus, 1988, comatose for 3 days. His mind was sharp nonetheless. "Tis the mind that maketh the body rich," and the accident's real tragedy did not arise until a few years ago. Thence Covid-19.

He was a soldier of Bros. Washington & John Paul Jones' Democratic Republic. Who will honor him?  He served his country with courage and honor, just as did our father, a P-51 pilot (WWII). His submarine, USS Sculpin (SSN 590) was tasked with harbor duty, protecting ships sent to Lebanon by Pres. Reagan -'82 Nuclear officer. During the 80s, he said subs in the US fleet stealthily approached every Russian sub, pinging them simultaneously - the Cold War was over.

He was kind and generous, a true philosopher, practical genlteman, and a skilled engineer. He is now free of the pain the latter days of life often bring. Bittersweet symphony, life. SEMPER SUMMUM BONUM, ET VERITAS!

My understanding of life, as he and I discussed, is one in which, as G.B. Shaw opined, we return in 'death' to that 'place' from which we have strayed - a place not made of stone but to that omnipresent 'cosmic consciousness' which is the Universe entire. SO MOTE IT BE. We commend his spirit unto God.

"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality." G. WASHINGTON

Peace be upon him in his new form. 

OBITUARY

In Loving Memory of Michael Patrick McDermott

August 18, 1960 – September 11, 2020

Malec & Sons Funeral Home

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