Amo Saddam

Growing up in Detroit in the 90s, I had a decent amount of Iraqi friends. Some who still spent summers there with family members. So before I even enlisted I was privy to a pretty considerable  amo...

Moondust

What can really be said about OIF? Hindsight’s 20/20? A lot of us can remember being in bootcamp when Delta Force captured Saddam and his sons met their end. We thought then it was all over and wo...

Fairweather Brotherhood

At the risk of sounding cliché, June 8, 2014, started like any other day. I woke up at 5 am, got my ACUs on, and began the 45-minute drive to work. My commute was met with the same excitement it al...

The Legend of Peg Leg McGillyson

Listen my children and hear the late-night legend of old Peg Leg McGillyson. A pro surfer with talent to spare, his face often adorned with sparse, sun-bleached facial hair. He may not have the big...

Paddle Out Before You Tap Out

By: G.P. Scheppler Images by Nick Betts   It’s that time of year again, when no matter how many buddy phone calls we make, how many push-ups we do, some of us still choose to tap out early. I get i...

Trippin’ Grunts

  Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are author’s alone and do not represent the opinions of the DOD or USAF.   Apparently, Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children have a new problem. Grunts tripping. Not on a...

Nonno’s Old Box of Memories

Secretly, gingerly, as if uncovering a secret stash of nudie magazines, I dug into the spare bedroom closet. I held my hands high as I stood on my tip-toes. Past the winter coats, past the once...

3495 Bailey

Every step, a set of ribbons stitched on a hat Reminds you of where they’ve been And where you’re at Wedged in a chair, relating to peeling linoleum Narcotics more present than the fiends holding t...

Leaning Into Force Design

In March of 2020, the United States Marine Corps officially announced its decision to divest the Corps’ armor assets.  An 80-year-old community, who had perfected their craft, set aside their pride...

To Hanoi with Poems

 It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon in Savannah. As I finished my breakfast, I exited the pub and downed my drink. Wanting to break up the monotony of my usual day, I decided to check out a book shop...

The Afghan Crisis: Helping Effectively

 I’m waiting on several contributions for a project of mine. Some of the friends I am waiting on are currently preoccupied with getting Americans and their friends out of harm's way in Afghanistan....

Written in Taliban

  The first time I saw you was in the Khyber Pass.  You came with your technology, elite fighters fueled by revenge, and the hubris to believe you could disprove history.   This was a war that ...

10pm on a Tuesday

My dog is telling me to go to bed but he has the same voice as my dead fiancé. It scares Me. I hear the echoes down the hall and stumble to the kitchen refusing to look into the bedroom again I see...

The Terrible Puzzle and The Terrible Prize

I’ve reached a point in my grief stage where I don’t have any more uncontrolled sobbing sessions. Not that I had many of them, anyway. When my brother died, I had seen it coming for ten years, the ...

What Are We Waiting For?

In the spring of 2011, I was a fire team leader in Sangin, Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. My platoon was spread out between two different outposts, and we only had one int...