Reflections

In spring 1987, the Soviet Union launched Operation Atrina, scrambling five Victor III-class submarines from their Kola base that raced toward U.S. Naval installations along the Atlantic coast. The USSR claimed its submarines were…

This is Part II of a two-part story. Read Part I. My mother had told me that Dad handled payroll for his ship, the USS Hughes, and its sister ship, the USS Hammann. I imagined that he had somehow sailed through the Battle of Midway…

Editors note: This is Part I of a Two Part Story. I wanted nothing more than to be on a boat with my dad, motoring around the dazzling blue waters off the coast of Massachusetts while he taught me how to work the gears, set an anchor,…

“Lt. Van, see Maj. Shire after class,” directed the instructor.Uh-oh, I thought. It’s never good to be singled out, especially when you’re a student at a military school like Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi.As the Navy…

On the third day of a weeklong field exercise at Fort Lewis, our company XO drove me back to the garrison for an appointment to fit me for a temporary dental prosthesis. Afterward, he picked me up and we headed back out to where we were…

For the longest time, I didn’t look forward to the holidays the way a dad of three ought to. I once thought it was because I was raised on little extravagance, especially with respect to Christmas and gifts in general.But after an evening…

I landed on Iwo Jima for the first time in 1998. I was a young Marine sergeant serving as an infantry squad leader during a six-month deployment to Okinawa, Japan. Most who make the pilgrimage to the tiny island stay only a few hours. I was…

During the first week of December 1991, my wife, Lin, and I met our friend Richard Fiske for dinner at the Chart House in Honolulu, Hawaii, as we had done on many occasions.I’d been stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, for three…

“It is on the ship—assume you have it. We will find and beat this thing down.”The alarming words from our skipper about Covid-19 aboard the USS Ronald Reagan caused a cascade of restrictions for our standard operating procedures while on…

This article is part of Short Changed, a series looking at the noncombat deaths of women going back to 9/11.As of Jan. 17, veterans thinking about hurting themselves can get free crisis care, including inpatient, for up to 90 days at…