The War Horse

Editors note: This is Part I of a Two Part Story. I wanted nothing more than to be on a boat with my dad, motoring around the dazzling blue waters off the coast of Massachusetts while he taught me how to work the gears, set an anchor,…

At first glance, the home mortgage advertisements, sent to some 10,000 customers in May 2016, looked as if they came from the Department of Veterans Affairs: a blue seal with the words “Veterans Administration” above a prominent “VA,”…

“Lt. Van, see Maj. Shire after class,” directed the instructor.Uh-oh, I thought. It’s never good to be singled out, especially when you’re a student at a military school like Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.As the Navy…

On the third day of a weeklong field exercise at Fort Lewis, our company XO drove me back to the garrison for an appointment to fit me for a temporary dental prosthesis. Afterward, he picked me up and we headed back out to where we were…

Protected Area This content is password-protected. Please verify with a password to unlock the content. Enter your password Unlock The post Vet Center Changes ‘a Stab in the Back’ as Delays, Counselor Shortages Grow appeared first…

For the longest time, I didn’t look forward to the holidays the way a dad of three ought to. I once thought it was because I was raised on little extravagance, especially with respect to Christmas and gifts in general.But after an evening…

A couple of months after Spc. Vanessa Guillén disappeared on April 22, 2020, former Army Pfc. Krysta Alaniz protested the seeming lack of action on the military’s part. With her chocolate-brown eyes, sleek dark hair, and heart-shaped face,…

I landed on Iwo Jima for the first time in 1998. I was a young Marine sergeant serving as an infantry squad leader during a six-month deployment to Okinawa, Japan. Most who make the pilgrimage to the tiny island stay only a few hours. I was…

This article is part of Short Changed, a series looking at the noncombat deaths of women going back to 9/11.During her last visit home, Army Pfc. Hannah Gunterman McKinney asked her father to break her arm so she wouldn’t have to…

During the first week of December 1991, my wife, Lin, and I met our friend Richard Fiske for dinner at the Chart House in Honolulu, Hawaii, as we had done on many occasions.I’d been stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, for three…