Louis Roney: That old feeling again

• My father taught languages at Rollins College when I was a boy. Junior year in high school I asked him, "What is the greatest university in the United States?" "Harvard," he answered. "That's where I want to go," I said. Getting there involved more than wishing. I took competitive examinations, and afterwards a representative from Harvard came to see my family one evening in Winter Park. The result was a full scholarship, a necessity for me in those Depression days. Harvard has played a great part in my life since my graduation in 1942. Now, I learn that the lad across the street, son of good friends, has received a letter from Harvard asking him if he would like to apply for entrance. I told my b.w. with a smile, "Maybe Harvard figures it will get it right in Winter Park this time!" How I wish I could relive those four years! And I wish neighbor Henry, God speed. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Sixteen years later they founded America's first University – Harvard!

• Yogi Berra endeared himself to me forever by answering the question, "What time is it?" with, "You mean now?" In my whole life I don't think I have said anything any more beautifully to the point than did Yogi!

• Veterans Day, which used to be called Armistice Day, reminds us of the many wars in which this country has invested wealth and blood. We have fought to save and to serve millions of people, but we have never taken one square-foot of their land. The day after Pearl Harbor, I took the subway to Boston and joined the U.S. Navy. By late spring, I was in uniform at Notre Dame University, and then Northwestern's downtown Chicago campus.

Later, Commander Gene Tunney, the great boxer, handed me my Ensign's commission, and I was off to the wars as a Navy Gunnery and Torpedo officer. I returned to civilian life in January of 1946. Veterans Day brings back my memories in full living color. I'm glad that I served and I'm also glad I survived. I lost a lot of friends in the war, guys who will always remain young in my memories. Both the enemy countries, Germany and Japan, are now staunch allies and friends, so what was it all about anyhow? In the world there were simply horrific things going on that good people could not tolerate, and we were good people with enormous power to wage war and put things right. Thank God the good people were stronger than the bad!

• That Uneasy Feeling: This morning I had that uneasy feeling again, the same kind of feeling I had when I heard of FDR's death, the shooting of JFK, and now, the unending bald-faced lies of a president who scares me with intimations of things that would perhaps serve some purposeful plans of his own but, that also might bankrupt our great nation. Once again I find myself with a feeling that I am not able to control my own destiny and am simply treading water until there is some solid ground under my feet. I feel as lacking in resolution as T.S. Eliot when, in "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" he cannot decide "whether or not to peel a peach."

Mr. Obama seems to think that our health care, which is one-sixth of our economy, can be manipulated to address almost anything he may have in mind. As I never feel that he is "talking straight" to me, I am at a loss to anticipate his end point and its ramifications. Obama tells me, "You can keep your doctor if you want him, and your insurance if it suits you, period!" Those are pretty simple words. But can I count on them to mean what they say? The president's compulsion to "interpret" everything he tells us puts a second spin on most of his utterances.

Off we go – I've that old feeling again!