A gunnery sergeant grapples with his love of deployments during a time when his family needs him at home.
Military Family
Posted inReflections
My Father Died Over 60 Years Ago. I Feel That I‘m Just Now Meeting Him
His father served in World War II and remade his life, one that a son is finally discovering.
Posted inReflections
Forced Pivots and Finding Purpose as a Military Spouse
How the founder of the National Military Spouse Network reignited her career after years out of the workforce
Posted inReflections
“It Is Cancer”—Reflecting on My Husband’s Diagnosis After Going to War
In the VA’s emergency room, Molly Pearl and her husband made the imperceptible shift between soldier and patient, wife and caregiver.
Posted inReflections
Crossing the Line of Departure as a Woman in Special Operations
Jackie Munn and her husband quietly said their last goodbyes before she boarded the C-17 headed to Afghanistan and her Cultural Support Team assignment.
Posted inReflections
She Needs a Background Check and a Day Pass to Visit Her Father’s Grave, Part 2
Kelly McHugh-Stewart picked up her ritual black coffee and red carnations, one for each member of her growing family, to lay at her father’s gravesite.
Posted inReflections
She Needs a Background Check and a Day Pass to Visit Her Father’s Grave, Part 1
Kelly McHugh-Stewart lost her military ID when she turned 21, and in turn, the ability to easily visit her father’s grave at Fort Leavenworth.
Posted inReflections
An Army Brat and a Gold Star On Graduation Day
Kelly McHugh-Stewart’s father died in Afghanistan on May 18, 2010. Since then she’s had two separate graduations—both were on the anniversary of his death.
Posted inReflections
A Coast Guard Officer Runs Home After A Marathon Of Funerals
Sarah Holzhalb endured a marathon of funerals shortly after separating from the Coast Guard. All these years later, the month of March still sucks.
Posted inReflections
“He Tried to Kill Me in His Sleep”—a Military Spouse Learns How Gridlock Gets You Killed
As traffic slowed to a stop and the color drained from his face, Liesel Kershul began to see that Tom had changed. Then he tried to kill her in his sleep.
Posted inNewsroom
Echoes Project: The Homecoming
Veronica didn’t want to be at the airport when the Marines returned home from Afghanistan in April 2011.
Posted inReflections
She Couldn’t Imagine The Fear. She Could Imagine Walking Barefoot, Carrying Her Heels
Annie Erling felt like an interloper when she worked at the Holocaust Museum and again at the 9/11 Museum. Then she came upon a pair of bloodied heels.
