After World War II, Friedberg was home to the United States Army installation Ray Barracks, which was home to the 3rd Brigade 3rd Armored Division. Elvis Presley was stationed here during his military stint. He was a part of the 1st Battalion 32nd Armor Division.  Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of Defence and four-star general was also stationed here in 1958 as a second lieutenant. 

When I receive a postcard from a small American town or village, I sometimes assume there won't be much of interest to write about. However, Johnstown, Colorado, has a couple of fascinating stories to tell. Johnstown is a town of approximately 17,300 people in northern Colorado. It was incorporated in 1902 and named after John Parish, the seven-year-old son of Harvey J. Parish, who purchased land in the area in anticipation of the Great Western Railway passing near his homestead. Parish Avenue, Johnstown's main street, is named in his honour. According to the story, young John was in hospital with a ruptured appendix when his father told him to hurry up and get better because they were going to name the town after him. The name would be John's Town . Fortunately, John recovered, and the town was indeed named in his honour. He later became mayor, serving from 1929 to 1934. The second interesting story involves the Johnstown meteorite. On 6 July 1924, a meteorite fell near th...

This is a 3D photo from Strand. Strand was once an island off the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, in the historic region of North Frisia. Its story is one of the most dramatic examples of how the North Sea has shaped the landscape and the lives of the people who live along its shores. Today, Strand no longer exists as a single island. It was devastated by centuries of storm surges and flooding, most notably the catastrophic Burchardi Flood of October 1634. The flood broke the island apart, leaving behind areas that would become Nordstrand, Pellworm, and Nordstrandischmoor. Other parts of the former island disappeared beneath the sea. The region is part of the Wadden Sea coast, a landscape of tidal mudflats, marshes, and low-lying islands where the rhythm of the tides has always played an important role in everyday life. For generations, residents have built dikes to protect their homes and farmland from the sea, continually reshaping the coastline in their effort...

The sender lives in Salt Lake City and says she is a big ice hockey fan. I wonder if she supports the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL)! The 2026–27 season is Utah’s third in the NHL. Although the league established a new franchise in Utah in 2024, the team inherited the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes, whose franchise became inactive. This meant Utah did not need to build its roster through a traditional expansion draft, in which a new team selects eligible, unprotected players from other NHL teams. Instead, Utah acquired the Coyotes’ players, draft picks, and hockey operations assets, allowing the team to begin play with an established roster and staff.  The team played its inaugural season in 2024–25 as the Utah Hockey Club while the organization worked on a permanent name and identity. After a series of fan surveys and votes, the name Utah Mammoth was announced in May 2025. The team retained its original colours of Mountain Blue, Rock Black, and Salt White....

The sender is a devoted fan of FC Energie Cottbus, a German football club that has moved between the 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga, the second and third tiers of German football. The club’s history dates back to 1963, when it was founded as SC Cottbus in East Germany. In 1966, it became BSG Energie Cottbus, the predecessor of today’s FC Energie Cottbus. The club has struggled with a history of far-right extremism among some of its supporters, particularly within its ultra and fan groups. In 2005, the group Inferno Cottbus displayed an antisemitic banner during a match against Dynamo Dresden. In 2012, members of the same group arranged letters to form the Nazi slogan “Sieg Heil” during an away match against FC St. Pauli. Other incidents involving racist and antisemitic chants, Nazi salutes, and extremist symbols continued in subsequent years.  In response, a group of supporters formed Energiefans gegen Nazis ( Energie Fans Against Nazis ) in 2017. The group has worked to challenge far-...

The sender lives in Renton, but the card comes from Port Orchard, Washington. Port Orchard is a city of approximately 17 000 people located about 20 kilometres west of Seattle. The Mosquito Fleet Fest is a street fair and maritime exhibition named after the historic Mosquito Fleet, a network of small ferries that once served communities around Puget Sound. The relatively new festival began in 2024 and takes place around Memorial Day in late May. Two of the region’s oldest surviving vessels, Carlisle II and Virginia V , host vendors, live entertainment, contests, sailings, and exhibits.