Category Uncategorized
The loneliness of people who go first, or give too much
Prometheus was a visionary—a Titan, one of the oldest gods. For Prometheus, fire didn’t just symbolize heat; it represented creativity, rebellion, consciousness, and technology. So Prometheus did what any true visionary does: he did what others feared to do—he gave fire to humanity as a gift. He was the first to feel the loneliness of […]
For Police Officers, Now is not a Time for Silence
There have been a lot of words this weekend. There will be a lot of words tomorrow, and for the next few days we will listen to comments and statements about Tyre Nichols. Some of those statements will be sincere. Some might sound sincere but seem to miss the mark, and others will seem like […]
Words Will Never Be Enough
I’ve sat on this for weeks, because I know this is part of my grieving process and I still want to believe it was some horrible nightmare, not reality, but here we are. I lost the guy that was always “my guy.” I still think he’s going to randomly call me one day, and I […]
It Starts With Us
In the spring of 1968, a platoon of American soldiers stormed the Vietnamese village of My Lai. By the time the dust settled, 504 Vietnamese civilians were dead – murdered by American soldiers. The massacre of My Lai rightfully remains a dark, dark stain on the American military. And while it is easy to to […]
Disappoint As You Are Willing To Be Disappointed
There is always that moment just after disappointment when you feel anger. You look incredulously in the direction of that person you feel owed you something and deep inside of yourself you scream. WHY?! Do you not care?! You owe me. They don’t hear you, presumably because they don’t care, or maybe they just don’t […]
The Ghosts They See
For months they shared the same routine. A quiet reveille followed by the groans of sore muscles and the pop of tired joints. In so many ways, they were all the same, in very few were they different. It was true, for these men, that misery loved company. But when that company would fade… the […]
The Darkest Truth
I’ve never understood the point of writing if you weren’t going to be real. There’s a certain type of brutal rawness that accompanies honesty, but it isn’t very often that when we read things we’re given that type of honesty. I quit writing for a long time because I’m scared. For a while I thought […]
Don’t let your obsession with weakness control you
Like everyone, I’ve been broken. The things I’ve loved, or the lack thereof, has destroyed me. I became obsessed with those things. I’m ambitious, hungry to learn, and in those cases, determined to do whatever necessary to avoid that same pain. I had been broken by others before, but now, I was the one breaking […]
My Review: The Last Stand of Fox Company
There is a generation of forgotten Marines. A generation comprised of World War II veterans and Marines like myself – reservists. It was November 27, 1950 and the Marines of Fox Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment of the First Marine Division had descended on the Korean Peninsula under the command of Supreme Allied Commander, General […]
You Are Your Own You
I first noticed it after joining the Marine Corps. It was an identity crisis, literally. Men and women all over the place finding their identities in what they did or said. I felt surrounded by false advertising. “Who are you?” I would ask, but no one could answer that question. There is a fine line between […]
Jesse Carr 