Editor’s Note: In my time as Editor-in-Chief of The Havok Journal, I’ve written only a few personal pieces. One of our writers, K.C. Aud, once said, Continue Reading
death
The First Time They Saw It All
The room sat with the palpable pain of the past. Every eye red and glossy. We sat as they called me "the rock"; "the untainted"; "the Continue Reading
An Arm’s Length Away
As the world came crashing down, those men did what they do best, they fought on. They fought to preserve that which others sought to take. They Continue Reading
The Mementos of a Warrior
It’s a cold, drizzly, Southern Oregon night, as I sit inside, perusing the old photo album. I flip through page after page of men clad in camouflage Continue Reading
Carpe Diem or Die Trying
When I was twenty-one years old, I wrote my own will. Although I had no assets and nearly no earthly possessions, I still had to divvy up what little Continue Reading
The FNG
During Ranger School, a young Lieutenant who aspired to be a Green Beret asked Quint how someone short in stature like himself made it through SF Continue Reading
The Real Fear: Not Death, But Demise
Amidst the visceral realities of combat and the quieter, yet no less profound, struggles of daily existence, death lurks as a looming specter for Continue Reading
The Day Death Lost Its Grip
About a year into the pandemic, my morning was interrupted by a tragedy in my neighborhood. My elderly neighbor was pacing on my porch, debating Continue Reading
The lessons I learned in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery
(Where I met the ghosts of the living, but not of the dead) Arlington National Cemetery is a place that exists only in the imagination or deep Continue Reading
A Story Told in Pictures: Afghanistan’s Mark on Me
In Afghanistan I transformed from a naive young kid into a more mature person, indeed I did. In Afghanistan, I learned that life is not only short Continue Reading
Burdens and Blessings
I had a phone conversation with Matt recently. He was in my son’s squad in the Mountain Phase of Ranger school. He shared with me his story about that Continue Reading
In The Darkness We Can Still Find Hope
Last January I began working with a woman who struggled mightily throughout our sessions, but who nevertheless continued to meet with me. After she Continue Reading