The first time I deployed in support of OIF, Americans were still fairly novel creatures to the regular “Joe Iraqi” townsfolk, as were our beardless faces, our cargo pants, and–most intriguing–our sunglasses. On one of the two trips I took “outside the wire” while there (both unauthorized), I saw firsthand […]
This is the dry erase board on which I encouraged the 39 members of my flight last year to write some things for which they could be thankful, even while stuck spending a holiday in Iraq. See? Things weren’t so bad. And here’s the Beastie Boys telling us to be […]
I was sitting here wondering which story to tell tonight when a flashing light on my blackberry signaled a message from my friend Jon, the managing editor at an Atlanta newspaper, wishing me a happy Veterans Day. I met Jon five years ago at a luncheon; he heard me refer […]
Media outlets will discuss an anniversary tomorrow, but I’d like to write about an anniversary today. One year ago today, I was trudging through a concourse at 6am with Pretty Bride and Toddler, so that I could board a plane for Norfolk, VA where a plane would take me to […]
Last weekend I traveled with the Air National Guard. After a few of us went out drinking, one of the guys, Ron, said he was tired and that he was headed to our hotel room to retire for the night (yes, the military is sometimes thrifty with our tax dollars […]
