Of history, warfare, leadership, and alcohol
While doing some reading about the early American Revolution, I came across a famous sentence I’ve read a dozen times over the years in a variety of contexts. This time, though, it was as if I were reading it for the first time. The words belonged to famous patriot pamphleteer Thomas Paine: These are the times that try men's souls: The …
Continue reading "Did You Mean It?"
The armored JLTV’s diesel engine growled as the transmission downshifted to avoid getting stuck in the rutted, muddy road. The hulking four-wheeled truck’s right front tire splashed into a deep puddle, cascading windshield with brown water and banging the soldiers inside hard against the armored doors. “Goddamn it, Cisneros, who the fuck taught you how …
Continue reading "#NextWar: A Fictional Cautionary Tale"
On Veterans Day, at my son’s request, I sat in a crowded elementary assembly as part of a Veterans Day ceremony. I listened uncomfortably to fifth and sixth graders repeat what they had been taught in their classrooms about veterans and about military service: that veterans represent the best our country has to offer, that …
Continue reading "Fixing Veterans Day"
The Angry Staff Officer 