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The War Horse
Trump Sketches Future of US Military—Hunting Cartels, Quelling Unrest, and Immigrant Detention Camps
Military officials, Donald Trump told a crowd at a rally in Iowa this past October, are “some of the dumbest people I ever met in my life.”It wasn’t the first time the Republican front-runner and former president offered his opinions on…
My Family Took the Straight-and-Narrow Path. Why Was I the One to Diverge?
“You know what’s crazy?” I said. “I’m turning the same age you were when you went to war.”“Oh wow,” my mom said, nodding thoughtfully from the couch. Then, “Wait, you’ll be 35?”I laughed from where I reclined on the floor, stretching my…
VA’s Work to End Veteran Homelessness Is a Nationwide Model. Can It Translate for Civilians?
In late January, groups of volunteers around the country set out on foot and in vehicles in search of individuals experiencing homelessness. The goal: Get a sense of how many people are living outdoors or in shelters in their own…
Mac Was My Hero. I Never Told Him. I’m Sure He Never Knew.
William (Mac) McKissick was my hero. I never told him that. I am sure he never knew. We were not friends. The best that can be said is that we served together in the Air Force in Vietnam for about nine months.He was a technical sergeant at…
Aging Veterans Are in Crisis. This New Program Aims to Help With Housing.
On a recent morning, four veterans who served in the 1960s and 1970s gathered at tables at the Jon W. Paulson Veterans Community in a common room that smelled of strong coffee. Eric Hill, an Army veteran with thinning gray hair, spent…
My Yia Yia and I Both Endured War. This Is How We Carry It.
Every family has their secrets. Some big, some small. One of ours was that Yia Yia was a bit crazy. And where to begin: One could point to her sudden and animated outbursts of anger in awkward places. Her decades of pill popping that made…
US Territories Have High Rates of US Military Service, but Battle for Veterans’ Benefits
Before Alex Ortiz’s wife gave birth to their son, she left the couple’s Caribbean home and traveled some 1,600 miles to Rhode Island, where she had family, to deliver the baby. Ortiz had grown up in Puerto Rico before he joined the Army,…
The USSR Called Operation Atrina a Triumph. We Knew It Was a Failure.
In spring 1987, the Soviet Union launched Operation Atrina, scrambling five Victor III-class submarines from their Kola base that raced toward U.S. Naval installations along the Atlantic coast. The USSR claimed its submarines were…
US Military Can’t Sustain Arctic Operations, ‘Let Alone Dominate,’ Experts Say
Missile launchers illuminated under the glowing green fingers of the northern lights, white-and-gray camo with fur-lined hoods, Green Berets perched two to a snowmobile—these were the scenes from Arctic Edge in 2022, a biannual joint…
It Took a Lifetime to Learn My Father’s War Story—and How It Shaped Us Both
This is Part II of a two-part story. Read Part I. My mother had told me that Dad handled payroll for his ship, the USS Hughes, and its sister ship, the USS Hammann. I imagined that he had somehow sailed through the Battle of Midway…
Play Hard. Get Dirty. Use Good Saop.