Military stories.
Stories about veterans, service members and the families who wait for them.
The Purple Heart My Aunt Almost Lost
Nineteen hours off a military flight out of Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, still in my OCPs with desert dust ground into the seams of my boots,... Read more
The Mother They Called a Liar
The whole classroom laughed when my teacher said my mother was probably just a desk clerk who liked airplanes. I was thirteen years old, standing... Read more
The Sea Bag My Granddaughter Almost Gave Away
My granddaughter Piper had it halfway into the trunk of Pearl Hutchins’s church van before I even knew what was happening. Fifty-two years of my... Read more
The Widow Who Kept the Notebook
My husband’s cousin Grover Pruett stood in the benefits office parking lot and told the clerk, right in front of me, that I had signed... Read more
The Voicemail She Almost Deleted
My cousin Damon stood up at the picnic table under the pecan trees, tapped his sweet tea can against the wood like he was calling... Read more
The Medal Case He Would Not Sell
Duane Fitch stood in my doorway with a clipboard in one hand and a smirk he didn’t bother to hide, and he pointed at the... Read more
The Roll Call They Tried to Skip
Duane Kessler read one hundred and eighty names into that microphone and not one of them belonged to a woman. I know because I counted.... Read more
The Day the Speaker Went Silent
The bluetooth speaker died on the sixth note of Taps, right in the middle of the phrase every soldier carries in his bones, and for... Read more
The Dress Blues He Threw Away
My son in law Blaine held up the garment bag with my Marine Corps dress blues inside, gave it a little shake like it was... Read more
The Salute at the Gas Station
The kid behind the counter looked at my cap, then looked at the six people in line behind me, and said it loud enough that... Read more
- ← Previous
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- More Stories →