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The War Horse
Thousands of Afghan Allies Who Fled After US Withdrawal Trapped in Immigration Limbo Retired…
Three years have passed since President Joe Biden announced that the United States would pull all of its 2,500 troops out of Afghanistan, starting a chain reaction that ended in thousands of Afghans flooding Hamid Karzai International…
‘Come Hell or High Water’–Rangers Caught in Urgent Fight, Flight to Save One of Their Own It was…
I looked out the door of the Huey helicopter into the orange, yellow, and purple fan rays of the sunset over Southeast Asia. The air was cool up here—about 70 degrees compared to the 112-degree heat just 2,000 feet below us.It was June…
He Served His Country. In Return, His Country Sent Him Into Exile The military relies on noncitizens…
At 17, Rudi Richardson took a friend’s car for a joyride, crashed it into the side of a parked car, and landed himself in court. It was Southern California in the 1970s. Richardson’s probation officer told him he had a choice: The court…
I Stare at the Empty Chair Next to Me. He Isn’t Coming. We Still Wait for Him.
I sit staring at the empty chair next to me. We know whose chair it is. He isn’t coming.His name was Sam. He’d grown up in the country, the child of a military family, and he was obsessed with computers. We affectionately called him “our…
PACT Act Update: VA Signs Up 280,000 New Veterans, But Some Are Still Left Out
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has signed up more than 280,000 new veterans and completed roughly 900,000 new toxic exposure claims under the expansion of the PACT Act, a Biden administration move that sped up the implementation of…
After Years of Nomadic Military Life, Permanence Can Be Frightening
This time, I don’t wrap the picture frames, vases, and other delicate souvenirs in bubble wrap, or place them in Tetris-like defensive positions inside a large brown box.I don’t need to; the boxes aren’t going far.After years of going where…
‘Invisible’–More Women Veterans Are Dying of Suicide and VA Still Lacks Resources, Advocates Say
Active-duty service members and veterans thinking of harming themselves can get free crisis care. Contact the Military Crisis Line at 988, then press 1, or access online chat by texting 838255.When she joined the Navy in 2001, Jennifer…
‘Welcome Home’–For Years His Family Waited for His Return. Now, He Waits for His Daughter.
My wife and I sit in a large auditorium in El Paso, Texas, waiting in anticipation, along with other families, for our daughter’s return from deployment. Upbeat music fills the air and the feeling in the assembled crowd is of a group of…
‘Consequences of War’–Veterans Incarcerated at Higher Rates and Face Longer Sentences
Late in the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, Brockton Hunter, a defense attorney in Minnesota, was having drinks with a friend from law school. Hunter had served in the Army before becoming a lawyer; his friend had been in the CIA. The…
I Learned That Loss Could Bridge the Divide That Separates Us
There is no doubt in my mind that military pilots have egos stretching to the stratosphere. I found out early in my military career that fighter pilots, as a group, are a bunch of assholes. I learned to tolerate most of them, but none…
Play Hard. Get Dirty. Use Good Saop.