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The War Horse
Back Home from a Peacetime Deployment. Is That What War Is? Of Course Not.
It all felt so familiar, which was jarring. We’d been listening to white noise for long enough that turning back to the clear channel was comforting, but a little too loud. Like stepping outside before your eyes adjusted.Before takeoff,…
Inside the Military’s LGBTQ Witch Hunts Trump’s Return to the White House is Resurfacing Questions…
On weekends, Staff Sgt. Todd VanCantfort, an armed forces police officer in San Antonio, Texas, targeted gay bars in search of anyone in the military. One time, at the direction of his supervisor, he ditched his light blue and navy uniform…
The Berlin Wall Would Soon Tumble, Divided States Would Reunite. My Work Was Done.
Editor’s Note: This story was published in partnership with San Quentin News and was written during a writing seminar for incarcerated veterans in April hosted by The War Horse at California’s San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Tens of…
My Army Service Required Embracing the Suck—and Squeezing in a Few Good Laughs
Serving in the military is a lot of things. Absurd and funny are definitely part of the story.When people think about service, they think about combat or embracing the suck, and they are not wrong. However, my experience in the Army…
Shooting the War: A Marine Combat Photographer Remembers Fallujah
Photos by CPL. TREVOR GIFTOne Christmas morning, Trevor Gift’s parents gave him a 35 mm film camera. He started shooting photos for the high school paper, and when he saw Full Metal Jacket, in which the main character became a combat…
Leg Irons, Memories of Service, and What Might Have Been Echo From Behind Bars
Editor’s Note: This story was published in partnership with San Quentin News and was written during a writing seminar for incarcerated veterans in April hosted by The War Horse at California’s San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Tens of…
Q&A: Twenty Years after Fallujah – ‘I Hope They See It As a Cautionary Tale’ The War Horse…
The War Horse’s coverage this month of the 20th anniversary of the Second Battle of Fallujah is deeply personal.Our founder, Thomas Brennan, deployed to Iraq two decades ago as a young Marine barely out of boot camp. Within months, his…
Twenty Years of Fallujah A Timeline of the Battles and Beyond
Coalition forces conduct a 12-hour air bombardment focusing on the city’s south and southeast to mislead the insurgents about the direction of the attack. After the airstrike, U.S. troops follow with artillery or mortars. Next,…
My Platoon’s Fight To Survive—and Heal From—The Bloodiest Battle in Iraq A Marine Platoon’s…
November 10, 2004Crossing Fran
Javelin missiles shriek through the sky. Machine gunners fire from the rooftops. Artillery thumps in the distance moments before a thunderstorm of steel rain pours around us.
Phase Line Fran was a…
“No One’s Gonna Make It Out of Here” Watch My Platoon Recall Fallujah, the Iraq War’s Bloodiest…
In November 2004, I was a 19-year-old lance corporal assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. We were at al-Asad, an air base in Iraq, when we were told to pack only what we could carry. We strapped our packs to the sides of…
Play Hard. Get Dirty. Use Good Saop.