The 22-a-day number is not real. The number publicized to show how many vets commit suicide every day is not real. The actual number is something less than that. And a deeper […]
The Cost of Veteran Value Signaling
Can We Question Someone’s Service?
We’ve already had a few dust-ups over the claims of service that some veterans running for congress have made. Over 400 have run or are running in this year’s midterms, a significant […]
Honest Thoughts on Military Service
There are more. Here are 13: 1- I’ve never duplicated the relationships I have that came out of serving together. No matter where or when, seeing someone I gutted out a deployment […]
A Story About a Band
Navigating the half dozen outposts between where I had spent the last six months in Iraq and the last checkpoint out of theater took me a day and a half of helo […]
The Gap
There’s a space between what I once was and what I am now. When I ask others to travel it with me, they can’t. It’s not their fault. It’s just too far. About […]
Why We Served
A few weeks ago, a reader posted a question in the comments section of an essay I wrote on the topic of Confederate monuments. I’ve said just about all that I think […]
The Art of the Aggressive
A few weeks ago, I sat down to do a podcast with retired SEAL, fellow writer and friend Andy Stumpf. He asked me a good question. And I gave him an ok […]
To The Fightin’ Fitz
We don’t write books or make movies about the men and women who drive ships any more. But maybe we should.
The Extreme Analogue
The world is full of extreme analogues, those things that are like us, but more extreme. If you’re smart, you can figure out how to use them. We use them all the […]
Fifty
The average age of an American serviceman killed in Vietnam was 23 years old. In Iraq, it was 27. The average American lives to be about 80. The data for other conflicts […]
