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The War Horse
Finding Empowerment in Choice, Asking for Help, and the Journey to Build a Family
I shared my big news with friends while visiting them out of town over Mother’s Day weekend. I planned to begin in vitro fertilization with a donor to freeze embryos later that year.The couple, a fellow Navy veteran and their spouse, had…
Most Veterans Who Support Extremism Had Negative Military Experiences, Study Finds
In interviews, nearly three-quarters of veterans who said they supported an extremist group or ideology reported experiencing a traumatic or otherwise negative event during their military service, according to a study released today by the…
The First Battle of Fallujah: ‘We Hurt Ourselves in So Many Ways’
“I remember the trees,” retired Lt. Col. Philip Treglia said about the day in April 2004 when he returned to his command post in Fallujah, Iraq, to find it had been attacked by insurgents armed with RPGs.“The trees all around were cut in…
A Presidential Palace, a Haunted Rolls Royce, and a Historic Election in Haiti
“This place needs a fresh coat of paint,” Mike said to me as we stood in the flag-bedecked United Nations Square in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.Mike, my executive officer, was the king of dry wit. Besides his sense of humor, Mike was a superb…
Years Later, VA Still Has Still Not Fulfilled Promise to Cover Gender-Affirming Care
Three years after Secretary Denis McDonough promised that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would begin covering gender-affirming surgery, that commitment has still not been met. And as anti-trans legislation continues to sweep the…
If There’s One Thing That Keeps Me Up at Night, It’s All the Ways What’s Inside Can Betray Us
So, why EMS?That question came up often in the first few months on the ambulance, and it was an understandable one. I worked part-time for the county’s 911 emergency response system while I completed a master’s degree in creative writing in…
Booted From the Army, He Spiraled. Now He Works to Solve the Veteran Homelessness Crisis.
On a foggy December morning, Dennis Johnson parks his Toyota Tacoma beneath an overpass in downtown Oakland, California. To his left is a homeless encampment so dense it spills off the sidewalk and into the streets.To his right is the…
The Day the Marines Asked the Army for Help, the Sun Rose in the West, and Hell Iced Over
On an October day in 1966, the sun rose in the west, a man was seen biting a dog, Hades reported ice storms—and the U.S. Marines asked the U.S. Army for help.Okay, the first three things didn’t happen. Normally, the Marine Corps is the most…
I Wanted My Life as a Mom Separate From My Work With Death. I Had to Make Room for Both.
The sun clung to the horizon at four p.m. that November day in Alaska. From my office, I quickly did the calculations—if I left now, I would have just enough time to scoop up my children from daycare and fit in 20 minutes of sledding before…
A Soldier Found Healing Outdoors. Now He Wants to Break Down Barriers for Others.
In 2013, U.S. Army Maj. Aaron Leonard led 12 soldiers from Fort Bliss on a five-day backpacking trip in Big Bend National Park in Texas, just over 300 miles away from their home base.“We were laying out one night on a mesa,” Leonard, a…
Play Hard. Get Dirty. Use Good Saop.