Twenty years on, the battle is viewed as a turning point in the Iraq war, serving as a reminder of the complexities and consequences of modern warfare.
David Chrisinger
David Chrisinger is the director of writing seminars at The War Horse. To date, he has led five cohorts of veterans and military spouses to share their stories of service and resilience. He is also the executive director of the Harris Writing Workshop at the University of Chicago. Before joining Harris, David worked at the U.S. Government Accountability Office as a senior communications specialist. He is an award-winning author of many books, including “The Soldier’s Truth,” a forthcoming definitive biography of Ernie Pyle, America’s most famed combat correspondent. David is a graduate of the University of Chicago’s M.A. Program in the Social Sciences and the recipient of the 2022 George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.
Posted inReflections
Far Along on the Road That Doesn’t Come Back—Retracing the Steps of War Journalist Ernie Pyle
You just sort of exist, either standing up working or lying down asleep. There is no pleasant in-between. The velvet is all gone from the living.
Posted inNewsroom
The Five Essentials of Storytelling. A Survivor’s (Excerpt) Guide to Writing about Trauma
David Chrisinger teaches The War Horse’s writing seminars, the preeminent professional development program for veterans and military spouse writers.
Posted inNewsroom
Fighting to Go Home: Operation Desert Storm, 30 Years Later
The Pentagon expected roughly 40% of Americans would be wounded or killed but “the Iraqi army wasn’t nearly as formidable as everyone made them out to be.”
Posted inNewsroom, Reflections
“It Would Be a Mistake to Underestimate Russia”: The New Cold War That’s Emerging in the Arctic
As Arctic ice shrinks, and climate change makes routes easier to traverse, a military struggle for control looms. Russia is already trying to claim it.
Posted inReflections
The Army Medic in the Hole
“I can’t believe this is how I’m going to die,” thought an Army medic after falling down a well. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. No one is going to rescue us.”
Posted inNewsroom
‘I Have Had All I Can Take’ — the Final Months of Legendary War Reporter Ernie Pyle
‘The Hurt Has Finally Become Too Great’
Posted inNewsroom
The Surge Nobody’s Talking About: The U.S. War in Somalia
America has engaged in military operations against terrorists in East Africa for years, but a lack of transparency about civilian casualties is causing concern.
Posted inNewsroom
White Supremacy in the Military “Like a Drop of Cyanide in Your Drink”
Since 9/11, there have been documented instances of white nationalism in the U.S. military, but the Defense Department won’t track the numbers.
Posted inNewsroom
“No One Is Winning”—U.S. War in Yemen “Fundamentally a Stalemate”
Tangled alliances with allies and their foes make this one messy war.
Posted inReflections
“My Creativity Was Paralyzed”—Baggage and the Bridge of Empathy
Can artwork depicting the Syrian refugee crisis build empathy for an American audience? One writer hopes so.
Posted inReflections
When I Think About Losing My Son
David Chrisinger found the words to express a devastating personal loss after teaching a military veteran how to write about her own feelings of sadness and uncertainty.
