The military is very good at setting conditions. We set conditions for success before a mission ever begins, through planning, language, Continue Reading
Veterans
Before the Cut
The dream is back. I’m an Operating Room (OR) nurse again. The dreams always return when I get too close to the years I’ve sealed away. I’m in a Continue Reading
You Sent Us to War Now Listen
My war has been over for nearly two decades. I took off the uniform, balled it up, and shoved it deep inside a musty green Army duffel bag. It now Continue Reading
Finding Fulfillment: “A Warriors Quest for Serenity”
By Chuck Ritter This first appeared in Objective Arete and is republished with permission. In your mind’s eye, travel far ahead into the Continue Reading
The Weight of It
“Thank goodness! That’s it?” The words left my mouth before I could stop them. The doctor’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “That’s not the response Continue Reading
The Space Between the Blast
Michael H. Ollis, the Triple Deuce standard, and the long road to “Medal of Honor” By Calder M Serba [Editor’s Note: Citation superscripts have Continue Reading
Jake: My Liberator, My Tormentor
These words are always tormentingly liberating. I fear every phrase, wondering if some passing reader might one day recognize my same Continue Reading
Twenty Years Later Under Iraqi Moon Dust
Nearly twenty years ago to the day, I boarded a commercial airplane with a machine gun slung on my back, along with 150 of my closest friends. Tray Continue Reading
The Years Between
Forgive my redundancy; I’m still hung up on the anniversary date of my deployment to Kuwait and Iraq in 2005. We had our twenty-year reunion last Continue Reading
On the Shore
On the shore the flag standsred, white, and bluewaving in a gentle breeze.Alongside a Union Jackand Tricolore she stands tall,guarding rows of Continue Reading
The Forsaken
In moments of deepest darkness, we are the monsters called forth. We are the devils summoned to bypass pleading with God for forgiveness. Beckoned and Continue Reading
Some Promises are Written in Blood
Witnessing 11 Days: The Story of Operation Pineapple Express I recently had the honor of attending a play titled 11 Days: The Story of Operation Continue Reading