Veterans Remembering Veterans World War II veterans Bill “Mac” McGee (left) and Larry “Salty” Trueax (right) lay a wreath in the water from the deck of the USS Massachusetts. Memorial Day 1997, Battleship Cove, Massachusetts (Photo Sandra V. McGee) May is Military Appreciation Month Throughout the month, several military holidays pay tribute to present and…
Thanks to Rev. Michael Gatton, former Chaplain for the USS LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) National Association, for permission to share his impressive remarks honoring the Greatest Generation. 7 LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE GREATEST GENERATION Remarks from Chaplain Mike Gatton USS LCI National Association Annual Reunion 2011, Nashville, TN EVERY GENERATION LEAVES A LEGACY OF…
On July 16, 1945, the world’s first detonation of a nuclear bomb was conducted by the United States on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Code name: TRINITY. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan designated July 16 as National Atomic Veterans’ Day, “a day dedicated to those…
Sunday, Sept 8 – Bill and I watched “Live at the Ryman”, a concert special celebrating the upcoming 8-part documentary by Ken Burns, Country Music, A Film by Ken Burns. The concert was two hours of one great song after another performed by a stellar line-up of country Western musicians. After the special, Bill reminisced…
August 2019 – Sandra Younts, president of Capital Co-op Consultants in Washington, D.C., is recognized in the broadcasting industry as a success story in broadcast co-op and vendor sales specialist. Sandra’s career path first crossed with Bill McGee’s in the 1970s. Bill was busy at the helm of his company, Broadcast Marketing Company, in…
“Bill, how would you like to make more money in a month selling Willys Jeeps than I bet you make in a year of cowboying?” July 2018 – Award-winning author William L. McGee opens his fifth memoir with the event in 1950 that changed the course of his life from cowboying in the West to…
Bill McGee shares a special memory… At sea, February 3-4, 2000 – As a member of the Navy League of the United States, Santa Barbara Council, I was invited to fly out to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), the United States Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Even for an old World War II salt like me,…
“THE BROADCASTING YEARS, 1958-1989 by Bill McGee brings back great memories of co-workers and friends from a glorious past when I was in the business and when advertising and broadcasting in San Francisco were the center of my universe. . . . Considering I only got one mention in Bill’s book (the fragile ego takes yet…
Thank you to Michael Malone for his review in Broadcasting & Cable (see below)… As an aside, when Bill started in the broadcasting industry in 1958, Broadcasting (as the magazine was then called) was the go-to trade publication for people in the business and it’s still going strong today. REVIEW by Michael Malone William L. McGee has…
“In the seventies, Bill McGee enticed me to be on the creative team for what turned out to be two highly-successful broadcast sales presentation films, Get It On! Get It On Radio Now!! and How To Make Effective Low-Cost Television Commercials. These films were the first of their kind in the industry and just one of Bill’s many innovative…
Available in Paperback and Kindle eBook editions Click here for more about the book
Imagine: 8 of the world’s great ballet companies; 6 performances; 24 ballets (4 ballets per program) … that was BALANCHINE: THE CITY CENTER YEARS, Oct 31 – Nov 4. Thanks to Bill’s hired caregiver, his best friend of 50+ years, and his son – who each took a shift so Bill was rarely left alone…
With the upcoming Balanchine Retrospective at New York City Center, here is my little Balanchine story… In 2000, Rodney Gustafson, artistic director of State Street Ballet, honored me with the opportunity to suggest an idea for a ballet. I proposed a suite of small ballets to songs sung by Frank Sinatra. I obtained permission from…
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. The name Memorial Day was first used circa 1882, but did not become commonly used until after World War II. Memorial Day was declared the official name by Federal […]
New Release! Western Writers of America Cookbook With Bill McGee’s Award-Winning Chili and Sandra McGee’s Southwest Slaw This cookbook celebrates the Western tradition with more than 150 recipes, anecdotes, and stories from some of America’s most popular Western writers and personalities. There are recipes for drinks, appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and fun…
ABOUT THE BOOK Montana, The Magazine of Western History is published by the Montana Historical Society, created in Virginia City in 1865 by Montana’s First Territorial Legislature, making it the oldest institution of its kind west of the Mississippi.
TAKE A “LOOK INSIDE”
“I would like to thank Bill McGee and his wife, Sandra, for their work over the years to preserve U.S. Navy Armed Guard and Merchant Marine history so people of future generations may read and see what both crews did in World War II. Without Bill and Sandra working together, and their interest, the Naval…
Bill and I attended the 74th Annual Seabee Ball on Saturday, February 20, 2016, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Bill has written extensively about the Seabees in his WWII military histories and is a Life Member of the Navy Seabee Veterans of America. We were honored to be invited to the VIP…