Reflections

When you’re serving on a Navy submarine with dozens of torpedoes and nuclear-tipped missiles, the best days are the boring ones. Boring on a submarine is good. Boring means everything is working like it should and everyone is doing what…

Every Sunday, a swap meet takes over the parking lot of the VanBuren Drive-In movie theater in Riverside, California. During one visit, I had wandered away from my friends, who were combing through old dishes, looking for rare midcentury…

It’s been less than two years since the Army renamed the training base near Columbus, Georgia, in honor of my parents, Lt. Gen. Harold “Hal” and Julie Moore.“Our family is deeply grateful that our parents will be honored, remembered, and…

This story contains the topic of suicide. If you or anyone you know are having thoughts of suicide, please call 988.I knew you when you shined bright like the sun. Your laughter was so contagious we’d laugh so hard our bellies hurt. Your…

There is a reason drill instructors start screaming in your face the moment you arrive at boot camp. Before you can be built up into a proper soldier, you must first be torn down. To be an effective cog in the war-fighting machine, the way…

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…

The town seemed deserted. The only sounds were our footsteps on the ancient cobblestones. We wandered down the unfamiliar roads, wondering about all the closed doors and shuttered windows, when we suddenly heard rustling up ahead. We…

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…

The first thing I learned about Japan was that the summers are hot. Extremely hot and extremely humid. I learned this in August 2022 the hard way—pushing an overweight suitcase and backpack up steep hills, navigating from the vague…

I deployed eight times to combat environments around the world. I missed Christmas with my family on three of them.I’ve celebrated on a Naval ship in the Mediterranean and in both Europe and Afghanistan with sailors and soldiers from a…