In the VA’s emergency room, Molly Pearl and her husband made the imperceptible shift between soldier and patient, wife and caregiver.
Military Family
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.
Posted inReflections
Learning How to Talk About War Helped Their Family Heal
You can’t hide anything from your children, John Sims learned. When their family began talking openly about his three decades of service, the healing began.
Posted inReflections
Marines’ Wives Are All the Same, She Thought. And Then She Met Liesel
Joy Craig writes in an open letter about the chasm between Marines’ wives and female Marines, and about a budding friendship that has softened her distrust.
Posted inReflections
Sailing the Atlantic Ocean – 2005
Tenley Lozano watched the Barque Eagle’s bow cut through the Atlantic Ocean’s night waters, which swelled with bioluminescence and dolphins.
