Forgive my redundancy; I’m still hung up on the anniversary of my deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in 2005. We had our twenty-year reunion last weekend, Continue Reading
Veterans
The Drums of War
The 'drums of war' resound inside of me. The drum is my heart, and it signals the direction I take- Like assemble, advance or Continue Reading
The Measure of a Man: Ramadi, Iraq
by a Combat Veteran Ramadi, Iraq, 2011 Just relieved from shift rotation, I was finally able to lay down and get back to my daily routine Continue Reading
Living With a Time Bomb
I live with a time bomb. He looks like a regular guy. Maybe a little tightly wound: high and tight haircut, rigid posture, authoritative tone. He Continue Reading
Afghanistan: The Price of War is a Piece of You
by Martin Jones In the graveyard of empires, experiences varied wildly - the year, the unit, the province, the problem, the strategy, and the Continue Reading
Anything to Stay in the Fight
by an anonymous female Afghanistan combat veteran I was sitting on the plane somewhere over the American southwest thinking about how long I had Continue Reading
Our War
Editor’s Note: First published in The Havok Journal on August 23, 2022, this reflection remains as relevant on the anniversary month of our withdrawal Continue Reading
My Funeral: Let Whatever Pain Caused By My Loss Not Whitewash My Life
By the time I was eight or nine, the vision was refined. While other children pondered their future success, I ponder my inevitable and desired Continue Reading
The Right Side of Despair
In life's grand tapestry, woven with threads of triumph and despair, we find ourselves transitioning from one side to the other, traversing the Continue Reading
The Diderot Effect and the Chest Candy Trap: What Are We Really Wearing?
Author’s Note: This article is not anti-award—it’s anti-illusion. Every ribbon has its story. Just make sure the story still matters once the ink is Continue Reading
Retrogression
Its generic blue tint looks like a night’s rest that for the last few weeks has escaped. Never did I think that one day it would turn into the Continue Reading
Veterans: Are You Making the Days Count, or Are You Just Counting the Days?
While we were in uniform, we counted a lot of things. Vehicles in the motor pool. Our troops coming into the patrol base. Enemy on the objective. But Continue Reading