BETWEEN THE TRACKS

Jim Knipe, late of Spanish Hammock, Tybee Island, Ga. was the closest thing I had to a father. One evening, he set his drink down and said, “Years from now, you’ll look back and see yourself clearly at every age—the fear, the pride, all of it.” He waited, letting the silence settle between us. “And you’ll feel a kind of peace. Because you’re the only one who knows what it cost to become who you…

July 4th, 1959—Fort Bragg, North Carolina—my old man decides he’s gonna grill chicken to celebrate Uncle Frank’s shiny new Captain bars. At the time, my Uncle is a Army maintenance tech and test-helipad daredevil who’s never so much as flipped a hot dog, let alone wrangled poultry over fire. And me? I’m a nine-year-old grill gawker with special clearance to park myself in front of his duplex…

Believe it or not, pigs can haul tail like they’ve stolen your mama’s Cadillac. I’m not talkin’ a plump Labrador’s trot here—I’m talkin’ full-on, “did-you-just-see-that?” getaway speed. I learned that lesson every school morning at precisely 6:15, rain, shine, sleet or ice storm included. We lived in a ragtag house that felt more like an animal refuge than a home. Most of our furniture came free…

Cadiz, Kentucky. Not the Cadiz in Spain, though I reckon we could use a little more olive oil and a little less bacon grease around here. Just off I-24, the Cracker Barrel sat on the edge of town like a brown wooden box that time forgot. It was a Thursday morning in June, heat already working up a sweat at 6:15 a.m., and the humidity threatening to outdo the grits for density. I’d parked my…

Proceeds from all books sold Friday will be given to the Legion. Darryl Armstrong’s debut collection of short stories in his book BETWEEN THE TRACKS traverses the extraordinary hiding in plain sight: a wingless angel navigating earthly terrain, a supposedly cursed cat becoming an unlikely hero, and children whose laughter and tears mirror our own deepest emotions. Armstrong’s South comes alive…

I will be available Friday at the Tybee Island American Legion to personally sign my books. Also, available at Amazon.com

I grew up between the tracks. A small town. Princeton, Ky. That’s different they say than growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. Back home you’d have a hard time figuring out which side was which. Our family were mill workers. Cut timber. Worked in the mines. Farmed. Did what needed doing. Some memories of my childhood days, well, I hope they don’t fade when I arrive at the Gate. The…

You still have time to get a copy at Amazon.com. Or, on TYbee Island on Friday night at Bingo, you can pick up an autographed copy. $20.00

Ezekiel 16:6: Then I passed by and saw you squirming in your own blood. You were covered with blood, but I wouldn’t let you die. Ezekiel was an Israelite priest and prophet. Babylonian Exile. Visions. Destruction of Jerusalem. Restoration of Israel. 593 to 571 BC, give or take. My Aunt Anzie was neither. Not a prophet. Not a priest. A Gunther woman. Tradewater River. Dalton, Ky. That’s all that…

Personally signed books available locally on Friday nights at Bingo at the Tybee American Legion. $20.00.

A U.S. Army Cessna O-1A Bird Dog (s/n 51-12711) in flight. (Photo US Army) Dawn on Con Son Island, South Vietnam April 29, 1975 Before a shred of sunlight tore into the horizon, Con Son’s runway in South Vietnam lay swathed in an acrid hush. The air tasted of iron and dread, thick enough to crawl under Major Buang-Ly’s collar and stick to his spine. He stood on crumbling concrete, each scuff…

Once a Jarhead Always … I’ve known Marines. Jar heads. Hair silvered. Eyes holding stories. Mr. H.C. Beck’s back is bent slightly now. He settles into a wheelchair. Humbled by a car that hit him while riding his scooter. He’s still kicking. Mr. Dale Vaughn’s voice rumbled through the library conference room. He read his poetry. Was Kentucky’s poet laureate. One of the finest teachers in our…

The best gifts for fathers are the ones you can talk about later. BETWEEN THE TRACKS by Darryl Armstrong is a collection of “down-home-heartfelt” tales gathered over sixty years-stories about mercy and redemption (Louis and his stray hound Oscar), about living fully (ninety-year-old Lincoln’s last Disney ride), about finding extraordinary moments in ordinary days. These characters, from eight to…

Memorial Day, 1979. Washington, D.C. She had invited me for the weekend. D.C. was as much a taste in my mouth as a place. A city that hung itself over my shoulders. Pressed against my tongue. Thick with the scent of wet asphalt, garbage, pot smoke, fireworks, and the sound of stories circling the monuments. In D.C., dusk leaks in through the seams of every window. It’s a feeling that is slow…

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosts a reenlistment ceremony for U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joey Jones at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 20, 2026. (DoW photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Madelyn Keech) Joey Jones, Marine, Re-enlists in the Marines It just makes sense. Joey Jones is hard to stop. Same as always. Marines are like that. You could see it in his eyes. The part of him that…