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The War Horse
A Chunk of My Life Was Taken From Me. You Could Say I Had a Bad Attitude.
When I returned from Vietnam in February of 1969 I had a bad attitude—a very bad attitude.I joined the Air Force to escape college and a broken heart (another story entirely). It turned out that the discipline, order, and focus the Air…
It’s Every Young Marine’s Dream. But I Don’t Like This Story.
Marine Maj. Andrew Hesterman first saw combat up close as a grunt during the Gulf War. His career culminated as an officer in the Iraq War, where he directed air support for the Marines in Fallujah. In this excerpt from Radioman: 25…
‘I’ll Be Your Wingman’–I Was a Pilot. They Were My Brothers. I Can Still Feel Them.
Editor’s note: This is Part II of a two-part story. Read Part I here.IMPACT plus one second
Tumbling end over end, the remaining intact portion of the number four aircraft plummeted toward earth with Vince strapped to his ejection seat. He…
‘Lead, Follow, or Get out of the Way’–We Really Did Live That Way.
IMPACT minus 2 hours and 1 minuteYou could always identify the schedulers. They were the ones who ran from room to room attempting to fill flight sorties when instructor pilots had canceled for some reason or another. That morning was no…
War Horse Symposium Sheds Light on Vital Role of Military Journalism for Democracy, National…
In an interview last week at The War Horse Symposium, comedian Jon Stewart asked Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks about a broad range of topics ranging from toxic exposure to veteran unemployment to declining national service. But…
I Couldn’t Fix the Problems From Inside. To Be Part of the Solution, I Had to Leave.
I turned off the patient’s ventilator and stood over him as his heart slowed and his breathing grew shallow. It was his own body killing him now—and he would die with none of his family there to witness his final breaths.He was a stranger,…
Goats First, Women Last–Air Force Culture Protects Perpetrators, Silences Survivors
The city swirled around me in a kaleidoscope of colors: high-rises that gleamed in the sun like pastel-colored mirrors, palm trees with dancing emerald leaves, women in beautiful sparkly heels that peeked out from beneath their burqas. A…
When America’s Economy Is in Turmoil, Veterans Can Step up to Lead the Charge
Just before Christmas in 2021, employees at Lincoln College, a predominantly Black institution in central Illinois, came into work to find their printers had started printing on their own. All across campus, they spit out the same message:…
The Ripples of War Are Only Beginning to Spread. Is America Ready?
Drop a pebble into a pond and, after the initial splash, ripples spread across the water. It’s a familiar image, one we know so intuitively that everyone understands immediately what you mean by the phrase “ripple effect.” Yet, even when…
This Is What We Do in America. We Pause. We Forget. Then We Begin the Next War.
My stepfather, brother, and I served in Afghanistan and Iraq. We are still there, frozen in the suck—a boomer, a Gen Xer, and a millennial—ducking mortars, mourning dead colleagues, and waiting for care packages curated by Mom. For seven…
Play Hard. Get Dirty. Use Good Saop.