It took years to dislodge the hatesearing my brain and every limb,like a tree burning in a firestorm.I’m charred but still standing,waiting for the rains of spring. ☼☼☼
Mindfulness by Gina Swanson
The night I met Airman Leonard Reh was his last on earth. He died 25 years ago this fall. His death is tragic and the basis for some of my own struggles still to this day. I was a brand …
(M)ilitary (S)exual (T)rauma by Anonymous
Military Sexual Trauma they say, or simply “MST”An acronym for ease or one really just to hide the dis-ease? When it happened to me there were no acronymsand certainly not much awareness I went into the military in the era …
History in the Closet: The Stories Behind Old Family Photos by Caleb Hatch
Staring at the old photos that I had, until recently not known had existed, I felt as if I was taken back 70 years. For the first time ever, history felt relevant to me, and the mystery of my family’s …
#IAmVanessaGuillen by Alyssa Nelson
#IAmVanessaGuillen covered social media for months following the disappearance and brutal death of Vanessa Guillen, an SPC in the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Hood, TX. Using this hashtag, many active-duty service members and veterans have come forward to share …
Two Wise Women: A Time to Embrace by Teresa K. Howes
Emotionally bereft, I focus on the technical aspects of traveling into Kuwait City, Kuwait, with several civilian-clothed soldiers on a contract bus driven by a Third Country National who doesn’t know the area well, either. The marketplace or the Souk …
The Life I Chose? by Racquel Arnett
“Well,” there is always that long awkward pause, “that’s just the life you chose.” When I hear this statement, I often want to follow up with a guttural yell. In the last four years with my husband, who is in …
A Veterans Day Tale of Struggle & Adversity by Devon Martinez
Andrew Stuckey is a black American veteran/hero who served his country through three wars. He wrote a book about his life called, Of a Black American Born. His wife, Marcelle Stuckey, was captured by Nazis during World War Two, because of …