Military stories.
Stories about veterans, service members and the families who wait for them.
The Knock on the Fourth of July
The last man to see my brother alive knocked on my front door fifty five years late, on the Fourth of July, while the first... Read more
The Banner That Left Him Off
“There wasn’t room for everyone, Cassandra,” Sylvia Crane told me in the fellowship hall of Cedar Grove Baptist Church, two days before the Fourth of... Read more
The Flag I Fold Every Fourth
Every Fourth of July for fifty years I have folded one flag alone on my back porch, and until this year not one soul in... Read more
The Flag His Nephew Tried to Claim
Tomas stood up in the middle of my husband’s funeral, straightened his jacket, and said loud enough for the whole church to hear, “She was... Read more
The Woman Who Was Really In It
Hollis Deemer waited until the whole room was quiet, then pointed his beer at me and said, “Renata here was never really in it. You... Read more
The Medals They Sold for Twelve Dollars
My own children sold Russell’s war medals for twelve dollars while I was inside making coffee, and when I came out with the tray they... Read more
The Uniform She Ironed for Twenty Years
For twenty years I kept my son’s dress blues pressed and waiting in the hall closet, and every single Sunday I took them out, and... Read more
The Homecoming He Never Expected
The morning I left for basic training, my grandfather Alden stood on the porch of the farmhouse with his coffee going cold in his hand... Read more
The Mechanic Who Got Everyone Home
For thirty-one years I thought I had married the quietest man in Calloway County, and I was wrong about him in the most beautiful way... Read more
The Letters He Never Mailed
For forty-one years I slept beside a man who never told me about the war, and I made my peace with the quiet long before... Read more
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