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.
America is disconnected from veterans and military families. Be part of the solution.
DonateDavid Chrisinger is the executive director of the Public Policy Writing Workshop at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and the director of writing seminars for The War Horse. He is the author of several books, including The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II and Stories Are What Save Us: A Survivor’s Guide to Writing about Trauma. In 2022, he was the recipient of the 2022 George Orwell Award.
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.
David Chrisinger teaches The War Horse’s writing seminars, the preeminent professional development program for veterans and military spouse writers.
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.”
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.
“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.”
‘The Hurt Has Finally Become Too Great’
America has engaged in military operations against terrorists in East Africa for years, but a lack of transparency about civilian casualties is causing concern.
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.
Tangled alliances with allies and their foes make this one messy war.