#NextWar: A Fictional Cautionary Tale

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 …

Fixing Veterans Day

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 …