Khobar Towers, edited for 30th anniversary

 

Khobar Towers--a Reluctant Hero

It was twenty five years ago, on 25 June 1996, that Islamic extremists set off a truck bomb at the US Air Force housing complex in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. My wife’s brother, then USAF Captain* Steven Goff, MD was present at the complex, known as Khobar Towers, and was injured in the bombing. What began for Steve Goff as a typical routine day in the sweltering heat, with temperatures over 100 degrees (F), on that early summer day in the Arabian desert near Dhahran, would end as a nightmare. The US Air Force was based in Dhahran, with an assigned mission, with other nations, of supervising the no-fly zone over much of Iraq.  In a sense they were protecting the minority Kurd population. My brother-in-law, Captain Steven Goff, MD was as a flight surgeon, or one of four doctors, to handle the care of the men and women who made up the contingent of over 2,300 Air Force personnel at Khobar Towers, near the Dhahran air base. The number of persons at the complex would rival that of mid-sized Wisconsin villages. His reluctant claim to fame was his having treated patients while he himself was seriously injured.

Steve Goff, MD, USA
Source: Family archives

The Khobar Towers bombing of 1996, in which 19 US military personnel died, is often not thought of today. When it is viewed, it is viewed in light of the other terrorist attacks that took place before and after. When we think of terrorist attacks today perhaps the first to mind are the four hijacked planes on 11 September 2001, and the horror that resulted. That bloody day, however, was presaged by other attacks, the Khobar Towers attack being one. On the date of the Khobar Towers bombing the US blamed Iran and Hezbollah, both in the news today, in 2026. Thirty years later not much has changed, but the US now having attacked Iran. Louis Freeh, then FBI Director under President Clinton would, after investigation, place blame on Iran. In June 2001 the evidence of the involvement of Iran seemed incontrovertible, to the point that news outlets, such as CBS, were wondering why the US was not bombing Iran. Years later, others, such as Clinton's Defense Secretary William Perry would come to believe (in 2007) that Al Qaeda was behind the attack. However, in 2006 a US court found Iran and Hezbollah guilty of orchestrating the bombing, which confirmed the first reports of the US government on  responsibility for the attack.  Recently, Bruce Riedel, then an Assistant Secretary of Defense, wrote that Iran, Hezbollah and one other group planned the bombing two years earlier.  He also notes that Saudi Arabia kept information from the US to avoid US retaliation against Iran.  For those injured in the attack, family and friends that lost a loved one or had a loved one injured in this terrorist attack, the main effect was that the attack occurred and would change the trajectory of lives. Lt Col Steven Goff would leave the bonds of this earth in September of 2006. Even after his last breath his body bore glass fragments of that summer day in the Saudi desert. Every limited shoulder movement, and chest pain, would remind him of that Tuesday evening in Dhahran. The events of that night and early the next day would be ingrained in his body and mind.

Goff Receiving Airman's Medal from 
Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen Fogelman, 3 July 1996
Source:  US Air Force

Dr Steve Goff was born in October 1957, the second of three children to Jerry and Shirley (Schleis) Goff. A gifted child who played the French Horn, and cared for their dog when she severely injured her  leg, presaged a career in medicine.  He graduated from high school a semester early and joined the US Marine Corps where he served four years, and was discharged in March 1980. After his service in the Marine Corps he would attend college at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where he graduated with a degree in environmental and public health. He then attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin from which he was graduated in 1990. He served his residency in family practice medicine in Wausau, and while there, living in Schofield, WI, he signed up to join the Air Force, where he would become a flight surgeon. Odd how life is. Shortly after his signing up for the Air Force, Jerry, his dad, and I were golfing at Yahara Hills golf course and were teamed up with another pair to have a foursome; the pair with which were teamed were Air Force recruiters one of whom worked with Steve in his joining the USAF.

Purple Heart Certificate
Source: Family archives

 
Captain Goff, MD was part of the medical attachment accompanying the 4404th Provisional Fighter Wing which had responsibility for keeping watch on varied no-fly zones established in the Middle East. The no-fly zones were established to protect vulnerable minority populations, such as the Kurds, from attack. According to Perry Jamieson, “The 4404th Wing had more than 5,000 personnel assigned, at eleven locations in four countries.(p. 2l) The largest concentration of them were the 2,300 airmen stationed in the American sector of the KhobarTowers compound, just east of Dhahran Air Base.” (p. 19) No relatives of these active-duty members of the US or any other service members were allowed to accompany the Air Force service member to Saudi Arabia. For the Dhahran airman, the tours of duty were 90 days.

 

Airman's Medal Certificate
Source: Family archives

Perhaps a contributing factor to the bombing was the quick transition of personnel at the varied air bases. Jamieson goes on to say that “The Air Force manned the 4404th Provisional Wing largely by rotating officers and airmen through southwest Asia on temporary-duty assignments. Although units for some aircraft-including "HC-130s, C-130s, A-10s, and tankers served in the theater of operations for 365 days.” (pp 18-19) At Dhahran it was different. All but 19 of the 2300 individuals who served at Dhahran served on a 90 day rotational basis. This policy led to about a 10% turnover of personnel each week, as more than 200 airmen and officers turned over every week. Army personnel in the same theater rotated personnel every six months. (Jamieson, pp 18-20) This fairly quick turnover may have led to lack of operational and tactical awareness. However, the US had concerns, and required groups of armed forces personnel being in groups of 3, but no more than 5 persons, to avoid kidnapping, or other potential terrorist attacks (Sherbo). The Saudi government liked the idea of the quick turnover due to the sensitivity of foreign bases on its soil. As usual, political considerations won out.

Airman's Medal Citation
Source: Family archives

Political considerations of short term deployments may have helped influence the bombers. The bombers knew what they were doing. A group of bombers drove up and parked a truck laden with 5,000 lbs of explosives (equivalent to over 23,000 lbs of TNT). The drivers of the truck had other vehicles which drove up to meet them where the truck was parked (not far from the US Air Force housing complex, to pick up the drivers and then speed off. About 9:50 pm a lookout noticed a truck and cars starting to move toward the complex, and he started notification and evacuation procedures. About 10:00 pm, or shortly thereafter, the truck bomb exploded. The lookout's action saved many lives and he would be awarded the Airman’s Medal for his actions that evening. The explosion could be heard over 20 miles away, and left a crater 85 feet wide and over 35 feet deep. The whole side of the building near where the truck was parked was essentially blown off, and is now an iconic symbol of the terrorist blast. 

Building near blast site
Source: Family archives

As the blast occurred Steve Goff was in his dwelling unit. He had just gotten back from a work out at the gym, and was awaiting the arrival of a friend to go rollerblading. It was not unusual, given the hot days and blaring sun, for the military personnel to work out at night after the sun had set and the temperatures started to drop. After all, it was over 100 degrees for a high that day, as it was for several days before. Steve was rolling up some rugs he had just bought in an excursion to town that day, when the blast went off.

Steve’s dwelling unit was about 200 yards from the blast site and the blast effect literally threw him across the room onto the sofa. Shards of glass spewed into the air, across the floor and into his body. To give an idea of what the glass did, Sherbo (p. 50) quotes airman Larry Oliver as he went into the corridor, in a building probably a similar distance away as was the building in which Goff was in: "I thoroughly expected to see the elevator doors split and damaged.  What I saw was glass impaled into the metal elevator doors and concrete walls." If glass is impaled in metal and concrete imagine where, and what, it can do in the human body. Goff said that he could tell right away he was wounded and says “I had glass in me. I had some trouble breathing.” (Dominguez, p. 1) Add to his wounds, that there was no power, meaning no lights, it was not a simple task. Stepping on glass with his bare feet, he treated himself as best he could, found some shoes, and then made his way to the medical area, through the darkened corridors of a building which had sustained significant blast damage. At the medical area, he started to work on patients, and after about 45 minutes, others treated Goff's wounds, as he worked on patients himself. As Dr. Robb, head of the 4404th medical unit at the Dhahran base said, “One flight surgeon was being bandaged for a serious chest wound while sewing up other patients” (Airman, p 10) This of course was Capt Steve Goff. Steve was generally limited to using his right arm since his left shoulder and arm were embedded with shards of glass, not to mention his chest wound. He would say that “Before I knew it, the patients were arriving fast and furious. (Dominguez, p 1) His Airman’s medal citation notes that he suffered a serious chest wound and “numerous lacerations to his hands and face.” He would later be transferred to a local hospital for treatment.

Photo of 4404 Provisional Medical Group
Steve Goff behind sign near center of photo
Photo Courtesy of Benjamin Scott Coleman

Meanwhile at the home front I spent part of my lunch hour attempting to call our US House Representative’s and Senator offices to see if they could find out Steve’s status. No luck. No one in the family had heard from him. My Dad, however, saw a news broadcast with him treating patients, and later when we talked to him he let us know about the broadcast. The thing is he found out about Steve being alive, due to a news broadcast.  The bombing was on Tuesday and we found out after the following Wednesday. Jamieson (p 83) indicates that Steve treated many patients. Then Lt Col (now Lt General) Douglas Robb, who was then interim commander of the 4404th Medical Group indicates that 519 persons were treated in the hours after the bombing, and of that number 317 were treated at the Khobar Towers complex. The last patients were being sewed up at about 5:00 am. Let me quote from Jamieson’s work:

Dr. Steve Goff a Schofield, Wisconsin, resident who had deployed to Saudi 
Arabia from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, had declined Dr. Robb's invitation 
to make the dinner and shopping trip to downtown Dhahran earlier that 
evening. He had remained at Khobar and suffered glass lacerations in the bombing. 
Dr. Goff helped the patients at the clinic, undeterred by a shard in his chest. Later, 
even while his own wound was being bandaged, he continued sewing up injured airmen.
Like those around him, Goff worked tirelessly, eventually helping more than 
200 patients. In view of his own injury, he was taken to King Fahd University 
Hospital; and on July 3, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman presented 
him the Airman's Medal. (p. 83)

As one can see, Steve Goff did not even have to be at the base, as he declined a dinner (and shopping) invitation from Dr Robb and other senior officers. He declined, in part, because he already had purchased carpets (rugs) in town on an earlier trip. Robb was actually entering a carpet shop, about ¾ miles from the explosion, when he heard, felt and saw the glass break the store front windows. Given his experience, Robb thought the blast was in town and not at the base housing complex. Only by the fate of a simple daily life choice, having bought some rugs, was Steve Goff present at the complex at 10:00 pm that hot summer night. He sustained an injury which would affect the course of his life. If Goff had taken up Dr Robb's invitation, which would have been likely had he not already purchased some rugs, he would not have been at the Towers at the time of the blast.

Glass shards, and window coverings blown across room
Source: Family archives

In his prevalent self-effacing style, Goff would provide much of the credit of medical care to the full staff. As Dominguez reports (p 2): “Major Goff attributes much of the medical success not only to the clinic staff, but to all those who embarked on the first aid, buddy care system to help those injured.” She goes on to quote Steve “If it weren’t for people taking the initiative to utilize what they were trained to do, the situation could have been much worse. Fortunately the response on everyone’s part was a contributing factor.” The air force personnel are trained to respond to a variety of events, and as Michael Willis, said, (Sherbo, p. 69) "An announcement came over the Giant Voice asking for people to help care for the wounded." The buddy system was being enacted.  More than that, anyone who could provide aid was providing aid, and if you had any training, or even watched a human being stitched, chances are you may have been called on to help stitch a fellow airman. It is fortunate, that the doctors pushed the medics, as Benjamin Scott Coleman said (Sarbo, p 25), "One thing I'll say for our flight docs at the Khobar Clinic: they kept us involved and were constantly training us to improve our skills."

Steve Goff being recognized
Source: Family archives

Steve would help push the medics. Yet, Goff's self-less endeavors of helping others before himself endeared himself to the American public, who, like my Dad, saw him in. a newscast in which he was interviewed. Dominguez puts it this way, “the major caught the heartstrings of many people around America as he stood before national camera crews telling the events that took place that night. Since then, the public has regarded him as a hero.” It was just such action which earned him the Airman’s medal which was presented by Air Force Chief of Staff General Ronald Fogelman on 3 July, 1996. However, Steve never really thought himself a hero. He would say: “I never felt myself a hero through all of this. There were a lot of people who went above and beyond that night and a lot of people who did a lot more than I did. Receiving this medal is embarrassing in a way, but I can accept it as a tribute to all the medical people who were heroes that night.” (Dominguez, p 2). I have read more about his efforts that night than what he was willing to share with us. Just as my Dad did not like to talk about much of his experiences in WWII, Steve probably did not wish to discuss the events of that night which so shook and would affect his later, and short years, on this planet earth. The Airman’s medal would say otherwise, for it is the highest air force award for heroism in a non-combat situation. With all due respect to my brother-in-law, the Airman Medal was awarded by direction of the President of the United States. In that sense, the President of the United States, William J Clinton, the secretary of the US Air Force, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and the many in the American public all say he was a hero for his actions on the night of June 25, 1996.

Room with glass shards and rugs he had purchased
Source: Family archives

 
Through it all Steve kept his sense of humor. After receiving the Airman’s medal from General Fogelman, Steve was asked if had anything to do over again, what would he do, and his simple answer was: “duck”.  As we can see, training was important, and as Steve would say they had trained for such events, although none with an anticipated 400 casualties. Yet, he could also make fun of the military way of life. Here is one example: Dr Paul Nelson, who served under Steve at Spangdahlem (Germany)  air base in 1999, wrote that he had not known for the first year he served with Steve that Steve was one of the heroes of the Khobar Towers bombing.  He would hear about Steve’s heroic actions after that bombing from a friend of his whom Steve had treated that night. When he inquired of Steve about the event, Nelson noted that “Steve’s short answer was standard act,” Steve simply said “When some of the guys got shocky we would take the big stacks of crap in binders we had spent so much time working on and put it under their feet….That was the one time I’d actually seen paperwork save lives in my career….”

Steve Goff was a reluctant hero feeling he did his duty as did many others in the medical trenches and on the base that fateful night in the midst of the Saudi desert. He really did not want the award, but felt that in not accepting the award, it would show disservice to his medical colleagues at Khobar Towers. His recognition was their recognition. Daniel James Brown in his 2016 work on the 1894 Hinckley firestorm perhaps sums it up best:   

Research suggests that that people who act heroically in a disaster often carry a special burden later--foisted upon them by an admiring public that holds them to a higher standard.  It seems that we expect our heroes to be larger than life even after their exploits are completed.  And, because we expect them to be stronger and braver than the ordinary cut of humanity, our heroes often suffer their own demons in tortured silence.

It is a sad commentary on life that these reluctant heroes often suffer in silence. That was the case with Steve Goff, who liked his work as a flight surgeon. He also liked his work being helicoptered in to remote areas in the United States to treat and stabilize persons hurt in the wilderness. He gave our sons some t-shirts with his unit number and a donkey being pulled up in a sling to a helicopter with the writing just above the image saying "We'll save yours"  and just below "too".

Steve Goff (hidden) receiving Airman's Medal
from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen Ronald Fogelman
Source: Family archives

June 25th is the 30th anniversary of the Khobar Towers bombing, a few persons in the nation will still remember and recall this terrorist attack. Every terrorist attack is consequential to those affected. On that night, and the next morning, Captain Goff, MD did what he was trained to do in a mass casualty event. Even while suffering a severe injury himself, he worked tirelessly to assist others. While he did not see his actions as heroic, many others did. 

*Shortly after the bombing Steve was promoted to Major, hence many documents about the Khobar Towers bombing will refer to him as Major Goff.

Sources:

1. Jamieson, Perry D. Khobar Towers, Tragedy and Response, 2008, US Government Printing Office.
2. https://www.britannica.com/event/Khobar-Towers-bombing-of-1996
3. Dominguez, Debra “Malmstrom doctor returns from Dhahran a Hero” in “High Plains Warrior'',            Malmstrom AFB, Montana, 9 Aug 1996, v. 8 no. 29
4. Nelson, Paul,“In Memorium, Dr Steve Goff” in “Flightlines”, p 35
5. Bailey, Capt Timothy, Dec 1996, “Buddies Cared” in “Airman” Magazine
6. Citation to Accompany the Award of the Airman’s Medal

7. Brown, Daniel James. 2016. Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894, Roman and Littlefield

8. Sherbo, Paul, 2021. Through the Perilous Night: Khobar Bombing Survivors Remember, Patriot Media Inc.

9.  Purple Heart award

10.  https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/06/21/remembering-the-khobar-towers-bombing/. (Bruce Reidel)

Author's note: For an account of Steve Goff, by a fellow airman and friend, see: https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/former-medic-remembers-heroes-victims-of-bombing-of-khobar-towers/

Note: photos at Khobar Housing facility from Family archives taken by Steve Goff, or a friend

Edited from a post on June 25, 2021, the 25th anniversary.

The Two Priests

Sometimes the changes occur gradually and other times they are dramatic. Personal experience with the change in culture of a parish affected me and my wife, and many others who had attended Christ the King Church in McFarland, WI. The shift came after the sudden retirement of Fr Steve Smith in November several years ago. In our case the change was not gradual when Fr Smith's replacement came in and shifted the whole culture of the parish. After a homily in which the priest said, "If you don't like what I have to say, you can leave!" After mass, I told Ernie S (then director of St Vincent DePaul in Madison) that we would not be back. We have kept that promise and now attend St Ann's in  Stoughton or St Dennis in Madison. Many others have departed as the parish shifted to a traditional and doctrinaire church highlighted by the Morlino Priests. This post is not about Fr Smith's replacement, however, but about two other Morlino priests, who have left a wake of apparent disaster in the parishes they once represented. These purveyors and judges of orthodoxy and doctrine, mainly preached of sin over mercy, of damnation over redemption, of ritual over service. 

The Morlino priests have made a dramatic change in the parishes of the Madison diocese. A few parishioners may welcome, but many find their 18th and 19th century actions off putting and contrary to Vatican II (which they often criticize). I am not sure there exists a higher level of arrogance than a priest who questions Vatican II, maybe there is, when a bishop does it. These priests instituted practices and preaching that are divisive and destructive. A young radical traditional priest, a Morlino man, was assigned to St Maria Goretti Parish. As recounted in widely disseminated news article by AP writer Tim Sullivan (2024) it was the change from contemporary to medieval music that first made parishioners realize what was now happening. The decline may have begun when Bishop Morlino kicked out long time St Maria Goretti priest, Fr Mike Burke, and took over his rectory to have a place to hold his many parties. But this priest, Scott Emerson, was assigned by Morlino's replacement, Bishop Donald Hying. Emerson, ordained in 2015, had little experience with a large church and then well-run school. First assigned in 2019, he was promoted to pastor in 2021. He has done long-standing damage to the church and school, as have the follow up rad trads who are at the parish. SOme of Emerson's moves, involved seeing school attendance plummet as he moved the principal out, leading to teacher resignations and other long-time staff move on. The choir director was fired, and the choir generally quit, meaning he could no longer even preach to the choir. In place, radical traditional (rad trad) Catholics and their pre-Vatican II ethos were brought in. 

Scott Emerson

Emerson seemed to relish in the subculture and clericalism the priesthood offered: from funny birettas, long-flowing cassocks and fancy gilded vestments and related clerical wear that sets them apart. It as if God and Christ care more about their clothes than about the message of the Gospel. All that seemingly was missing was the cappa magna. Such grandiose wear and actions make it more about the priest than about Jesus. This all caused parishioners to leave, and like Christ the King many left the Catholic Church, this being the final straw. A few moved to other parishes like Our Lady Queen of Peace, so far not as affected by the radical traditional movement promoted by Morlino and favored by Hying, but Hying does it in a less bombastic and direct manner than his predecessor. 

School attendance at SMG has plummeted, although losses may have been minimized by the diocese closing of St Peter's Catholic School in Ashton. Financial contributions well lag what is required, even after the realignment of parishes into pastorates. The pastorates now have priests serving three or more churches. Statistics seem to show that this move, which is becoming more prominent nationally, a parish lose 20% of their members. Fewer masses are held. At some pastorates they decide who will say a funeral mass, not the family. Is it a wonder why fewer Catholics are having a funeral mass? The move, to accommodate the lower number of priests, disenfranchises an important aspect of a parish, its sense of community. 

What Emerson seemed to posses is a large amount of hubris, or arrogance. This is from the AP article by Tim Sullivan:

Emerson’s sermons are not all fire-and-brimstone. He speaks often about forgiveness and compassion. But his tone shocked many longtime parishioners.

Protection is needed, he said in a 2023 service, from “the spiritual corruption of worldly vices.” He has warned against critics – “the atheists, journalists, politicians, the fallen-away Catholics” – he said were undermining the church.

But those critics, he says, will be proven wrong.

“How many have laughed at the church, announcing that she was passe, that her days were over and that they would bury her?” he said in a 2021 Mass.

“The church,” he said, “has buried every one of her undertakers.”

Sounds like the sermon Fr Steve Smith's replacement gave, making me wonder if the rad trads get together to devise divisive talking points. Given this statement one would think Fr Emerson was in it for the long haul. Yet, in a situation of reality being more bizarre than fiction, Scott Emerson, the purveyor and decider of Catholic orthodoxy and what is right and good for the Church over a year ago took a sabbatical followed by a leave of absence. He is no longer identified in the roster for priests of the diocese. He works for Exact Sciences and I am told no longer identifies as a Catholic priest. Whether he has joined the fallen-away Catholics, I do not know. Emerson, as I see it, came in and destroyed a parish and school and then does not have the guts or wherewithal to stick around to see his actions through. His commitment was fleeting. 

Roster of Priests Madison Diocese 
accessed 06/24/2026.
Scott Emerson is no longer listed

So too, goes the story of Fr Drew Olson, who this past May asked for a leave of absence, with rather impeccable timing after all the 2026 priest assignments had been made and announced. This trait of where they think only of themselves, is becoming, it seems, common among many Morlino priests. Fr Olson was with a pastorate and he has overseen the rad trad manifestation of the parishes in that pastorate. This pastorate serves three inner city of Madison churches, Holy Redeemer, St James, and St  Patrick, and an outlier in St Joseph's on the Beltline. St James has a school and Fr Olson has followed a similar pattern to Emerson. It has not helped that pastorate that charges for solicitation of a child have been brought in Waupaca Co against another priest previously assigned to that pastorate. Yet, the same subculture of Emerson was strong in Olson, too. Here again, a self-proclaimed purveyor of what is right and good for the Church is now on personal leave, and I wonder if he is likely to go the way of Emerson.

Men leaving the priesthood is not new. But, here we have rad trad priests who destroyed the parishes and their schools to which they are assigned and then left. One would think they would be the last to leave. The church has experience with rad trads. The most famous being Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionnaires of Christ and a favorite of John Paul II. Marciel was worse in terms of corruption and immorality than even Pope Alexander VI, due to his lengthy sordid history; but relevant here is that he refused, showing his true makeup, the sacrament of anointing of the sick while on his death bed. Hence, rad trads are people too, much as they make themselves seem omnipotent, as they put on the airs of clericalism. The hubris that emanates from many Morlino priests is a hard thing to live up to, and the two priests may well show that to be the case.

It would be speculative to wonder why the departures have occurred. Many US bishops and rad trad priests were waiting out the Francis pontificate, hoping for the next to be more in their ilk. Perhaps in Leo XIV they got a pontiff more like Francis and less like their joy of the 19th century Pius IX. Being so into clericalism they probably wished to ride high like their mentor Morlino, and become a bishop. Hying sure has to wonder, after having got passed by for Milwaukee, or even New York, with those appointments going to clerics who had worked under Cardinal Cupich in Chicago. Did Morlino poison Madison? One of Morlino's last public statements before his Nov 2018 death was in August when he vehemently vouched for the character, integrity and writing of Archbishop Vigano in Vigano's criticism of Pope Francis in the McCarrick situation. Archbishop Vigano was found guilty of schism and has been excommunicated. Vigano's comments were found to be essentially baseless against Francis, who followed the course of action set by the pope before him. Of course, in the (particularly then) ardent conservative hierarchy of the US, Morlino was not the only bishop quickly jump on the Vigano bandwagon. Overall, the US hierarchy argument was that Francis did not understand the US. I think Francis understood the US quite well. The hierarchy can no longer say that about Leo. The McCarrick situation shows what occurs when a church has rampant run amuck clericalism that is favored by the rad trads. (Google Vatican report on McCarrick and click on a  pdf under The Holy See heading which should show up to get the full report.) 

Back to the two priests. With so few priests available, two priests leaving today has a  much greater impact than two priests who left the priesthood in the 1970's. The diocese, like many in the US, import priests mainly from India and some arch conservatives from Spain. While much was written this past Easter about the number of converts the articles failed to mention that this years number is much lower than pre-Covid entrants, and that the number leaving still far out paces those joining. Hying likes to compare attendance to 2020 numbers, which is the main Covid year. With his clericalistic mind he must think the laity is stupid and uneducated, much like Pius IX thought. News flash to Hying, the time for "Rome has spoken the matter is settled" is over. People rightly will voice their concerns and if need be opposition. Many have left with their feet. And, with Francis and now Leo the cafeteria Catholics in a large sense are not the moderates but the conservatives and trads.

With a decline in parishioners, the church is getting what Benedict XVI is said to have desired (although it may be an urban legend), a smaller more doctrinaire church. The Morlino priests prize being judgmental and exclusionary, a church for the few, rather than Pope Francis' church for all. Yet, the doctrinaire church seems to only have applied to those in the pews not the priests who have had sexual, and other, sins covered up by the institutional church. The church as an institution has responsibility to the priests and parishioners, and unfortunately, it has put institution over people, and as a result now suffers from sclerosis. I will likely examine this in a future post. 

The situation in the church, such as with the two priests, proves the maxim that "great institutions are undone as much by their presumable guardians as by their enemies."

Crippled Bunny

The clouds obscured the west the sun as the wife looked outside and noticed a bunny eating some plants by one of our flower beds. Sitting on a grass hill in the back yard the flower bed just at its mouth is filled mainly with tiger lilies and anemone plants. It gets more shade than sun. A bunny eating some of our plants is not unusual. But, this bunny was unusual. My wife noticed as it stepped forward to further reach in the flower bed, it rolled on its side. This is the story of the crippled bunny we saw early last week.

It was likely a juvenile bunny, not a small baby nor an adult size. One of those cute brown bunnies that are ubiquitous in our yard. We have many bunnies, and more squirrels perhaps due to the fact that both our neighbors have dogs and our yard serves as the sanctuary for these animals. 

I started watching the bunny and it occurred to me that it was likely injured. My wife wondered if it was injured or perhaps had a birth defect. At least one leg would not function, mostly we noticed that the left back would not provide any support. Perhaps the left front was also not functioning fully, and caused the bunny to roll left whenever it moved forward. It could get on its legs, but the legs would not properly support or propel it forward. My wife got out the binoculars and noticed that the head and neck looked funny. There was a deep hole in the neck that had perhaps healed over. From a quick look she thought it looked like it had three eyes. 

It was painful to watch the bunny struggle, but as my wife said it sure has a lot of will power. When faced with a significantly challenging situation the bunny was attempting to make do. At one point it got to close to the edge of the hill and when trying to move it ended up rolling down the hill. It then went and nibbled on the flower bed by our deck. I went outside several minutes later, but could not find it. I chose not to move flowers and scare it. I pondered what I should do. in the end I thought it best to let nature take its course. 

Kohlrabi Plant with most of its leaves eaten off 

I am not sure where the bunny ended up, or if it could even make it up the hill. I looked and watched for the bunny at various times on Monday, but saw no bunnies around. I suppose it is possible, a predator, or a dog attacked it. At swim, when I relayed the story, a woman mentioned that if any feral cats are around the cat could have attacked it. 

Several years ago I recall watching a hawk try to capture a rabbit, but the rabbit was always able to find its way to under a tree or shrub when the hawk dove to try to get it.

When tending the vegetable garden a few weeks ago I saw a young almost baby bunny in the garden. The garden is fenced, but who knows they may sneak in. I went to try to find and shoo him out, but no luck. We do have a kohlrabi gnawed. Earlier in May a nice large kale plant was eaten fully to the ground level. This past weekend we were gone and got home to notice all the leaves have been chewed off the kohlrabi plants, likely stunting the growth of vegetables. Also, the leaves on my nascent pea plants have also been fully chewed off with only the stem a reminder of what was once there. There will be no sugar snap peas this year.

The thing is, sometimes I am getting mad because of the damage a rabbit will do in the garden, and then watching them run around in the yard is kind of neat. In watching this crippled bunny I was concerned, and sad for the little critter. Of course, other critters are at work. I doubt a bunny would leave chew marks in a couple kohlrabi heads. But, many of the leaves on the kohlrabi plants were chewed off this past weekend. I think it is squirrels that dug and likely absconded with many of my newly planted green bean seeds, such that only a few plants have now emerged from the soil.  Early this growing season, in April, I had row covers to help protect the seedlings from critters. One day going into the garden I noticed a squirrel scurrying out with a plant in its mouth. It is hard to compete with critters that have no gumption about destroying your vegetables or flowers. 

I do have say, that if it was a crippled opossum or a racoon I doubt I would have the sympathy as I did for the crippled juvenile bunny. It is something about the bunny, seeing it struggle that produced the sympathy. We have not seen it, or if it died, smelled it in the yard, even with a couple hot days last week. Nature likely took its course on the crippled bunny.

Chatter on the Lake Shore

When you are present at or near a lakeshore with other persons around, particularly, a beach, you never know what conversations you will overhear. When camping this past week we spent some time at the Hartman Creek beach, and part of Tuesday morning at Marl Lake. Marl Lake lacks a beach, but has a T shaped pier that juts into the small deep lake; the pier takes one to deep water in which you could dive in. Because Marl Lake lacks a beach, it does not attract children like the Hartmann Creek beach. This difference in demography informs what you may overhear sitting on the lake shore.

Hartman Creek has a very long beach and swimming area with some trees behind the beach. It is sufficiently busy that during most of June though August there is a daily concession stand that rents kayaks, Maui mats, paddle boards and even the most inefficient method of transportation known to man--a paddle boat.  A well-used hiking trail goes around the lake. I think many locals tend use this beach during the day. The campground has about 100 sites, and my wife diligently counts the campers as she walks the loops and found the same number of campers from Sunday late afternoon to Wednesday--about a third of the sites occupied. In a week or two it will be near capacity most every day of the week for the summer. 

Marl Lake, 2024

Sunday afternoon saw more families at the beach, than any other day we were present. During the week it tended to be moms and their young children, mostly preschool age, but there were times with some say under ten. Schools in the region were, I believe, still in session. I was walking into the water one day and a little boy said Hi Uncle Sylvester, and I said hi back, his mom explained he thought I was his uncle, although that guy she said has a full beard. The two names most often mentioned when were at the beach were Elliot and Thomas Daniel. I am not sure why the parents just did not say Tom or Thomas, but they always referred to him as Thomas Daniel as if he was in some sort of big trouble. The very few times I got into trouble my mother referred to me as Thomas David. Maybe they have another Thomas in the family so they use a middle name to mark the difference. Tom Daniel does not sound as telling as Thomas Daniel. Anyway, any of us kids growing up, knew mom was upset when the full first and middle name were used. It was fun listening to the interactions and watching the kids play at the beach, partly because it brought back memories of us at the beach when our boys were young, and now because we have two grandsons, giving us, perhaps, a glimpse into the future. One young boy, perhaps four, not either of the two mentioned, got into trouble as he was crouching in the water and his mom asked to him to stand. She noticed the water level and she said "You do not go any further out (ie deeper water) unless you have your life jacket on. The young boy preceded to back slowly into the deeper water, which did not go unnoticed by the eagle eyed mother. She did as a mother would be expected to do, yelled and said dad would come and get you if you don't obey.

One other time as I was walking into the water a young child said hi to me and I said hi. After swimming and I returned to the picnic table, the wife asked if the child had said hi to me first or had I said hi first. I noted he had said hi first. She said "you know not to say hi to a child unless they say hi first," and I said yes I know that. I know my grandson says hi to people when he is at the store with my son, and my son says, often, particularly at Menards, people never respond back. I think that denigrates the child, so I make an effort to respond back when a person says hi. 

Snapping turtle laying eggs along one of the roads
June 2026

The Hartman Creek State Park beach will see a variety of people, but it attracts families more than young adults, or older teens. Marl Lake seems to be a magnet for older teens and young adults. Because it is the upper lake on a chain of lakes, and connected by a shallow river to the next lake it is a popular spot for canoeists and kayakers as they take a few hours to paddle the chain. Some plan for lunch at the Marl Lake area. It is a rather tight area before the steep hill with two picnic tables and a couple benches. Last year, when there in July, one could not do much at the pier because so many water craft were tied up. Even though it lacks a beach it attracts sun bathers and this is where the conversations overheard are completely different than at Hartman Creek.

When we arrived at the Marl Lake I went swimming and talked to a couple in a canoe for a bit. My wife went for a walk on a short path that circles the main DNR holding. While she got gone, I heard a great deal of chatter. Six girls, perhaps 17 to 19 or 20 were coming down to the pier; they wore standard issue bikini suits, with the bottoms that pull up thee middle of their rear end. They gathered at the end of the dock to mainly sunbathe. I got out of the water and the wife, who had now gotten back, and I sat at the picnic table and read a bit. An older man, perhaps in early 60's took position on the opposite T top from them and a few other girls arrived with paddle boards and put in the water. A few minutes later, three young ladies arrived who also took position to sun bathe on the dock. During the time, I think I saw 12 or so girls, the one man, but only one boy who was with his assumed girl friend wo went paddle boarding together. 

The conversations started as soon as the six got into position. They talked so fast, most at the same time, and in a high pitch I don't know how any one could keep it straight, much less figure it out. The six chatty girls could not contain themselves, while the other three who later arrived were generally quiet. The conversation of the six involved one of them I assumed age 17 who wanted to start on the pill to avoid her periods and perhaps as birth control, but her mother would not let her; a friend said, well in a month you can make your own decision. Of course, she may still be on her parents health plan which may complicate that decision. The conversation then moved, as one would expect of girls with raging hormones, to boys some who were college students, but at least one was not, and he was a firefighter. When the fire fighter was mentioned, most of the girls shook their heads in a yes motion. They were swooning over the firefighter.

Geese on Hartman Creek Lake beach, June 2026

I asked my wife for clarification a couple times and she said, Well, if you got hearing aids, you could hear everything they have to say." I then realized this may be a time, with their tell all TMI in a public setting that I am glad I did not have a hearing aid. I am not sure why I need one, when I have my wife. I think the conversation changed at some point to less personal hygiene topics, and their difficulties with boys they dated. One complained about her a boy texting other women while cuddling her. I don't think my hearing was the problem, I realized that I just don't speak girl talk like my wife can. It is almost a foreign language. For example, I do not speak Swahili, and would not understand anything a Swahili speaker said. I do not speak girl talk and hence do not understand it.

Never having had daughters, I am not sure, but I doubt they would talk like that in front of their respective father. The conversation was an eye opener into the life of a late teen girl. Now, with all those people and only one boy, it made me wonder where the boys were. After all, the pier is designated a fishing pier and swimming not recommended, but one would have been hard put to fish with ten or more persons on the pier. I also figured if it is a fishing pier, more boys would be there to fish. It occurred to me that the boys were probably already working their summer jobs, or helping their mothers at home. Meanwhile the girls were lounging away on the pier at Marl Lake. 

Pier at Marl Lake (Google images),
the six girls were were on the right side of the T
We were sitting at a picnic table just to right of where photo was taken

A couple of the chatty girls took time to bravely get in the water, well for a few minutes anyway. For the children at Hartman Creek, one girl, about 5 or 6, got in near the edge, and complained about how cold it was; fifteen minutes later she was telling her mom to get in the water as the water was nice and warm.

Meanwhile the girls at Marl Lake did not seem to care that me and the other man were present. Maybe they figured their foreign girl language would keep us out of the loop, without realizing I had my own interpreter sitting next to me. The man near them turned up his radio to perhaps block out their chatter a bit. It also made me wonder what the other three girls who sunbathed and were quiet for the whole six girl group exchange thought of the whole situation. I think they were a bit older. Perhaps it brought back memories to them. The girls all had skimpy suits on, and most with the derriere exposed, but for the crack. I wondered if they had sufficient sun screen to avoid hot cross buns. They tended to use the spray sunscreen lotion. The younger children, particularly the boys, had long sleeved shirts on the beach and in the water. 

The great thing about camping is that you get these little life experiences that bring back memories, or set about overhearing something you would never expect to hear. I never expected to hear a conversation among late teen girls about their monthly cycle and their boy problems, or their desired hunks, like that firefighter they all swooned over. I have seen older women swoon over young men, particularly at the pool. The last time being last month when a Division 1 college swimmer from McFarland, now at the University of Louisville (the Louisville team placed 12th at NCAA nationals) trained during our swim time. The women liked the view of his sculpted body, and perhaps other parts.

To say, that each lake provided a different view into the human condition would be an understatement. Demographics, one will find out, can play a large part in what you hear in the chatter on the lake shore. 

Masked Bandit

This week while camping we had a masked bandit attack our chuck box. A raccoon visiting our campsite is not unusual, but what was attacked was highly unusual in our years of camping, a first time occurrence. The chuck box, which holds most of our non-perishable food items, cooking equipment and the like, was inherited from my in-laws. The attack on the chuck box was but one encounter with a well-fed wobbly raccoon.

We first started camping in 1998 and in 1999, I believe, is when her parents gave us the home-made chuck box with its Mirro Aluminum set of pots and pans, and plastic dishes. A similar set is in the Wisconsin State Historical Society. The plastic coffee cups had seen better days and are no longer used. Her parents used the chuck box for about 8 years and we have used it since 1999, with seven or eight years off of not family camping. Hence the cabinet has seen 27 years of use. I have repaired it a few times, but this is the first time in all our camping trips, that a raccoon has attacked the cabinet. From 1998 to 2007 we had almost 100 camping nights. 

June 2019, our fist camping trip with our camper
Lake Kegonsa State Park

It is not that raccoons are not common visitors. Our first major trip, to Pattison State Park in 1999 we arrived at the camp site, and because we had spent a night with my wife's sister, and the day was hot after setting up we decided to get ice. Coming back from getting ice we saw massive dark storm clouds moving in. We got the ice unloaded, but failed to put some non-perishable items, like bread, in the car as the storm hit with a vengence. When camping with the two boys we had more food that could fit in the chuck box. While we waited out the severe storm in the tent, the three hour rain deposited over 6" of rain in three hours, we went to the bathroom and then to bed. The next morning we woke up to the bread bag being opened and several slices taken out. 

The storm raised the water level of the lake (has a dam) significantly. And the water falls were powerful. Several roads were closed due to washouts the next morning as we attempted to make our way from Pattison to Amnicon Falls. The mayor of Superior would later lose a recall election for the city's failure to properly respond. We may have lost a loaf of bread, but boy the storm caused the falls to double their roar.

At Brunet Island we were camping with my wife's parents and her sister and husband. There cooler was broken into one night and the beef jerky was eaten. The next day my wife's dad went to town and bought some hot sauce which he put on some food in the cooler and the next night the raccoon once again visited and a few minutes later they heard a splash as the raccoon, they believe, headed to the water behind the campsite. 

Our Chuck Box

At Point Beach one year we had a raccoon saunter through our site. The next morning a camper complained of one getting in his tent. His son had an old candy wrapper in his pants pocket. 

Given our experience at Pattison we started to put the cooler and food not in the chuck box in the van at night, and later putting the cooler under a picnic table bench, or now the side of our camper. Not that such always helps. One night we were tenting at Yellowstone State Park in Southwest Wisconsin. A hilly site, our tent was down below the pad which held the picnic table and screen tent. I had secured the cooler under the picnic table bench and later that night I heard a sound of something like gravel. A raccoon was attempting to push the cooler out from under the bench. Hence, I got up and had to take the cooler up the hill to where the car was parked.

But, we have never had a problem with the chuck box until 1:30 am on Monday, June 1, 2026. It was at that time my wife made a bee line out of bed waking me as she hit my dangling feet, and she said something was out there. She grabbed a Luci light, which did nothing to illuminate the outside, than I grabbed my head lamp and gave it to her. I then went outside, and saw that the tarp had been pulled off. It was not until morning that we saw that the raccoon, at least that is what we think it was, had gnawed at one of the doors of the cabinet so we now have critter teeth marks on what was once essentially a door that still aged quite well. The door folds down and becomes a counter for work space. 

That is not the end of this critter. About 9:00 pm as the campfire was fading in preparation for us going to bed, my wife spotted a raccoon sticking its head out of the brush just a few feet from me. I yelled and my wife got up and scared it. The next night, but 15 minutes earlier, the raccoon was still brazen. Again, a similar setting as we sat by the campfire with our camper to our backs. We heard a noise, and I looked and there was the raccoon under the camper just in front of the spare that hangs below trying to grab the under carriage cover and what seemed like eat it. I yelled and this time it started to move, and I got up and saw it slowly sauntering away as its well-fed body wobbled up the campsite drive way to the camp ground road.

Close up of some of the gnaw or claw marks
At least it did not figure out how to unclip the clips that hold the door closed.

The next night we went to bed about 9:30, a rather late night for us, and were proud that perhaps the raccoon would not visit us this evening. That changed at 11:30 when my wife heard some more scratching. I went out and could see it once again disturbed the chuck box, knocking over the partial gallon jug of water set on top to help make any attempts more difficult. I went to bed, and again scratching. Got up again and looked under and around the campsite and the critter, as slow as it is, is even too fast for me and my bad feet. I think I repeated this a few times. I was now wide awake the critter, that masked bandit, having gotten the better of us.

We got complacent thinking its lack of making an appearance consistent with timing of the prior two nights may have cleared us of their presence. We were not so lucky.

I have to say, that first night of the visit when my wife got up, the though briefly crossed my mind that she is hearing things. But, memory quickly took me back to one of early years with the camper, we were at Laura Lake and she said she heard scratching under the camper. The next morning we could discern nothing being out of place. That was until our trip the following year, when we tried to get warm water but kept getting a fail warning for the propane. Nothing worked. Luckily it was in the nineties, so the mother nature did the warming for us. When we got home we took the camper to Jerry's and they found gnaw marks. Being Covid, supply train issues kept the new line a few weeks out. It was replaced and we covered the wires with plastic conduit and the propane with a copper grid type of netting. Apparently, ground squirrels or chipmunks like the smell of propane. The gnaws though not deep were enough for the sensor to realize the pressure was not quite right. Some of their techs doubted that was the issue, but Dave, the sales guy was certain, and he was right.

Some of the Geese at the Hartman Cr Beach

My wife has exemplary hearing to go along with the eyes in the back of her head. She was the first to suggest our warning light was related to that last camping trip of the prior year at Laura Lake. The gnaw marks were on the underside of the propane line and far down. I think Jerry's found it when they took it off and inspected the line.

At least, as far as we know, my wife's hearing kept the masked bandit from doing any damage to the camper. But, we now have a marked chuck box to remind us of the masked bandit and its appearance at our campsite at Hartman Creek State Park. Its visit to our chuck box was the first time we had an experience with a raccoon attempting to get in. My wife feels perhaps we had been fortunate for those many years. The visit that first night in the early morning hours of June 1 made us undertake some additional precautions as moving some of the non-perishable foods and putting them in the car for the night. Most importantly the wife has a new buddy, the masked bandit.