Veterans Day 2021: Great memories of wonderful vets
Veterans Day this year has special meaning to the thousands who served in Afghanistan. The wisdom (or not) of how the war was conducted and how withdrawal was handled is a discussion for another...
Category: Veterans
Stop treating vets as untrustworthy, second-class citizens in the SecDef debate
Like many Americans, I was surprised to hear that Michèle Flournoy was not president-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of Defense. Frankly, I was also disappointed as I know her and she’s a brilliant...
A thought for Veterans Day 2020
This family heirloom was begun by my late grandmother, and completed by my mother before she too passed away in 1992. I believe the words reflect the view of many veterans, and I hope...
Not a campaign prop: avoiding politicizing the military in a hyper-partisan election season
As readers may recall, we’ve talked a number of times about civil-military relations, and the importance of keeping the military nonpartisan (see e.g., here, here, and here). Alex Ward, a reporter for Vox, asked...
Have a great 4th of July!
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!!! You may enjoy Lee Greenwood’s new version of his legendary “God Bless the USA” which he made in collaboration with the US Air Force band...
Salute all who benefit the public, but recognize the uniqueness of military service
In their essay, “Whose deaths deserve to be honored,” James Joyner and Pauline Shanks Kaurin evince a curiously blinkered view of military service, and seem oddly vexed about the American public’s affection for those who...
Anna Page on “Finding Shared Values in Unexpected Places: The Military and Higher Education”
How easy is it for a soldier to navigate the educational process on some of the nation’s most liberal campuses? Today’s guest writer can tell us as she is a graduate of Wellesley College...
Don’t politicize traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are emerging as one of the most daunting medical issues of the 21st century. Addressing that challenge is not, however, advanced when it becomes mired in misinformation and politicization. Unfortunately,...
Guest Post: Gary Phillips’ Award-winning sci-fi story about a future AI war!
Today’s post is an unusual one: it’s a sci-fi story! It describes a future conflict where artificial intelligence and other high-tech has become profoundly integrated into the battlespace. This story won the 2019 Military...
Some thoughts for Veterans Day 2019
In his Proclamation for Veterans Day 2019, President Trump called on all Americans to “pause to recognize the brave men and women who have fearlessly and faithfully worked to defend the United States and...
