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
death
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
Who Will Hold Me When I Die
Yesterday morning I dropped off my grandson, Asher, at the Waldorf school. It made no sense to drive all the way back home since I needed to pick him Continue Reading
The Ramp
I was but maybe a month or two old, not truly but in war we are reborn. A newborn thrust into this world, cold and alone. I was riding that Continue Reading
Standing in the All Too Familiar
There I stood, yet again, in an all too familiar place. I stood in the haunting echoes of Taps. I watched the flawless motions of the Continue Reading
Tin Burdens
It is hard for me to admit the truth. That the weight became too much. The obligation of trying to focus on so many names every day. How so many Continue Reading