I started posting editorials for the online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1998, and when my essays were cited by established print publications like the New York Times and the Associated Press, I presciently told me friends that in the near future newspapers would be obsolete.

Almost three decades later and newspapers may not be obsolete, but they have seen a drastic drop in circulation, and many only have an online presence.

Twenty-eight years later I’m no longer a big fish in a small pond, I’m just a minnow in an ocean of bloggers, podcasters, influencers and vloggers, and my online essays receive virtually no attention from the mainstream media.

Sometimes I submit letters to the editor to local newspapers, and recently in a letter that was published by the Bedford Bulletin I mentioned that I have lived in Lynchburg for 24 years and never visited the D-Day Memorial.

Bill a retired gentleman who volunteers as a tour guide and is also part of the maintenance crew, read my letter and sent me an email offering to give me a tour of the D-Day Memorial. His friend Reggie drove me to Bedford and back to Lynchburg.

Bill has an encyclopedic knowledge of World War II in general and D-Day in particular. In my 66 years I’ve taken many tours of museums, memorials and other attractions, and no tour guide has ever impressed me as much with his knowledge of the attraction, respect for the visitors and love for his job. We were joined in the golf cart tour by his friends and fellow volunteers, Steve and Reggie.

Thank God for community newspapers like the Bedford bulletin that are still publishing print editions, and thank God for salt of the earth gentleman like Bill, Steve and Reggie.