The Afternoon Pour: The Uniform Is the Beginning
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| MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2026 · DAY 192 |
| The Afternoon Pour: The Uniform Is the Beginning |
Day 192. My grandpa Harold Grigsby Johnson would’ve been 103 years old today. September 7 is also Labor Day this year, which makes the uniform only the beginning of his story.
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Left: Harold G. Johnson in his Navy uniform with his father, John Johnson. Right, from left: Tisinger, Stunkard, Mitchell and Harold. Family photos.
He left Washington State College for the Navy during World War II, served with the Amphibious Forces in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and graduated from the Navy Midshipmen’s School at Columbia. Afterward he returned to college, spent 49 years at Aberdeen Federal and Anchor Bank, and served on the school board and through the YMCA, Red Cross, Lions Club and church.
World War II was neither clean nor simple, but the country acknowledged it as a national undertaking. Congress declared it, millions mobilized and a formal surrender marked its end.
Young Americans still stand watch on ships and at bases around the world. Today they’re carrying Day 192 of a war Congress hasn’t authorized, while most civilian life proceeds without having to call it a war. What’s changed sits with the country behind them: we’ve become less willing to say what we’re asking them to do, or what would let the mission end.
Most of Harold’s life came after the war. The people serving now are still at the beginning of theirs.
Tonight, a Manhattan for Harold.
Tehran Draws a New Line Outside the Strait; Oil Holds Above $97
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on state television that Tehran will publish maps within days for a restricted zone beginning where the US blockade begins and reaching into the Gulf, alongside a corridor through Iranian and Omani waters that Iran would manage; any vessel entering the restricted zone goes on a sanctions list. Central Command says it has redirected 92 commercial ships and disabled three since the blockade of Iranian oil exports began in mid-April, and about 10 commodity vessels a day have crossed the strait over the past 10 days — the thinnest traffic since May. In Abu Dhabi, presidential adviser Anwar Gargash called the war a “premeditated war of choice” and said a working relationship with Iran is recoverable, but that “trust with Iran is the mountain we will have to climb.”
| War: Day 192 · began Feb 28 |
| Hormuz traffic: 77 vessels last week, down 28% · ~10 commodity ships/day |
| US blockade: 92 vessels redirected · 3 disabled since mid-April |
| Brent: above $97 · April peak $126 |
| US pump (Sep 6): gas $4.15 · diesel $5.90, a record |
| Iran petrol: top tier doubles to 10,000 tomans Tuesday |
| Midterms: Nov 3 · 57 days out |
Oman’s Navy Takes 16 Off the Sidr
A Royal Navy of Oman vessel evacuated 16 survivors from the Saudi-owned tanker after a projectile hit it about two nautical miles off Musandam on Monday; Oman’s Maritime Security Centre said two of the 25 crew were killed. Gulf and wire reporting attributes the strike to Iran, and no official account has yet placed the other seven.
Eleven Killed at Kfar Rumman in Overnight Strikes
Lebanon’s National News Agency counted nine dead, two of them children, when a residential building was hit just after midnight Monday, and two medics killed by a drone strike on a vehicle; five more were wounded and neither location got a warning first. Seven died in similar strikes Sunday, and the toll in Lebanon has passed 4,300 since Hezbollah’s Mar 2 rocket attack — with June’s ceasefire framework still nominally in force.
Iran Doubles the Petrol Price for Its Heaviest Users
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the third tier — anything bought past a monthly 110 liters — goes from 5,000 to 10,000 tomans a liter Tuesday morning, while the first 60 liters stay at 1,500 and the next 50 at 3,000. The rial is trading past 2.2 million to the dollar on the open market; the two cheaper tiers, which cover most drivers, weren’t touched.
AfD Takes 44.5% and Still Can’t Form a Government
ARD projections from Sunday’s vote put the party at 44.5% against 18.5% for the CDU of sitting minister-president Sven Schulze, with the Left at 9.5% and the SPD at 8%. Lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund said the party had made history; no other bloc in the chamber has offered to govern with it, which leaves the majority arithmetic open.
Labor Day Opens the 57-Day Run to Nov 3
The general-election season starts Monday with all 435 House seats and better than a third of the Senate on the ballot Nov 3, and Republicans defending majorities in both chambers midway through Trump’s second term.
Forest Service Heads for Salt Lake City; Portland Office Moves to Salem
The restructuring released Sep 3 dissolves the agency’s regional offices in favor of state-based ones and shuts nearly two dozen facilities for a projected $16M in savings. Associate chief Chris French said the Portland lease was expensive and nearby space cuts that cost by two thirds; the Seattle smoke lab and the Wenatchee research site, both on earlier closure lists, stay open.
Huskies Take the 118th Apple Cup; Two Days to Kickoff
No. 17 Washington beat Washington State 24-10 in Seattle on Sunday, with 268 passing yards from Demond Williams Jr. and two missed Cougar field goals; the Mariners shut out the Athletics 2-0 the same afternoon to reach 67-77. Kickoff at Lumen is two days out.
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