Family members touched by the consequences of serving in the military

Robin Porter made both the white pants and the sweater during her senior year in high school. She took home economics five times during her father’s frequent transfers. (Photo courtesy of Robin Porter)

Reflections

Sewing Under Duress: Dad’s Military Moves Forced Me to Serve Five Tours of Home Economics

by Robin Porter March 19, 2025January 14, 2026

Due to constant moves during her dad’s service in the Air Force she learned to sew by taking home economics five times.

(Photos provided by Christopher Murchy and Cpl. Melissa Wenger, Illustration by Hrisanthi Pickett of The War Horse)

Reflections

A Marine Wonders: When Taps Finally Plays, What Will My Family Remember About My Service?

by Christopher Murphy March 12, 2025January 14, 2026

We stood in a gaggle checking over our dress blues to make sure we looked presentable, typical for Marines waiting for something to begin. Suddenly a car with a lone occupant pulled in and parked, the driver composing herself for a few minutes. She got out and walked over to us, then attempted to smile. […]

(Photos courtesy of Steve Moore, illustration by Hrisanthi Pickett)

Reflections

Fort Moore Was Named After My Parents. A Letter Mom Wrote Shows Why It Shouldn’t Go Back to Benning

by Steve Moore February 19, 2025January 21, 2026

Son of Fort Moore’s namesakes argues why the Army post’s name should not be changed back to Benning, includes letter from his mother

Illustration by Hrisanthi Pickett of The War Horse

Newsroom

Fifty-Two Years After a US Spy Plane Was Shot Down Over Laos, a Family Still Fights For Answers

by Ken McLaughlin February 2, 2025January 21, 2026

The peace treaty was signed. Prisoners of war were coming home. The last thing America needed was an international incident.

“I fell right into military life, where there was a manual and a reason for everything,” writes Noah Winchester. “But that broken child had grown into a broken teenager and then a broken man who found power and was corrupted by it.”

Reflections

Inside San Quentin Prison a Marine Found a New Kind of Family

by Noah Winchester January 29, 2025March 20, 2026

In San Quentin’s veterans’ group it doesn’t matter what you look like, all that matters is that you served.

This photo led to an unforgettable discovery in a small Norwegian village. (Courtesy of Stefanie Cooper)

Reflections

Sicily to Norway: How an Unexpected Deployment Trip Inspired an Air Force Veteran to Find Her Family Roots

by Stefanie Cooper January 22, 2025January 14, 2026

Air Force veteran was inspired to research her ancestry after a fellow officer found his family roots in Italy.

Maddy Longwell at Chureito Pagoda in Fujiyoshida, Japan, with Mt. Fuji behind her.

Reflections

How a New Navy Spouse Found ‘Community Beyond Base’ to Transform Her Life in Japan

by Maddy Longwell January 8, 2025January 21, 2026

A new Navy spouse living in Japan shares the importance of fostering community and exploring her new home while her husband deployed.

Army paratrooper Bill Glose, young, grim-faced, and holding an AK-47 in Iraq—the photo that would grace the cover of his first book of poetry, Half a Man.

Reflections

Silence Was My Father’s Fortress. I Shared It for a Time Until Poetry Set Me Free.

by Bill Glose November 7, 2024January 14, 2026

To deal with the emotions roiling inside, I emulated my father, who never spoke about his time in Vietnam. I often got angry at simple things, exploding.

Taylor Hobbs was fresh out of college and turned down a job at the Department of Homeland Security to join her Marine Corps spouse at Camp Pendleton in California. Now, a decade later, she is looking back at how her 24-year-old self was subjected to the advances of her 60-something boss at her first job as an administrative assistant at Marine Corps University.

Reflections

At 24, I Tried Not to Make Waves. Ten Years Later, I Wish I Had a Do-Over.

by Taylor Hobbs October 30, 2024January 14, 2026

Despite everything, I still wavered on whether to speak up about the harassment from my boss. Because objectively, did he do anything worth telling on?

From childhood, Steve Drown sought his father’s approval. But those efforts were often met with indifference, he writes.

Reflections

My Father Wasn’t Coming. It Was the Story of My Life.

by Steve Drown October 2, 2024February 10, 2026

I’m not using my relationship with my WWII veteran father as an excuse for my crimes. But after 46 years in prison, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect.

David Chetlain’s mother, Virginia Chetlain, snapped this photo of her son in front of a Blue Angels plane in 1984, the day he graduated boot camp. (Photo courtesy of the author)

Reflections

Isolated in an Alien World. Separated and United by a Submarine.

by David Chetlain September 25, 2024January 14, 2026

A submarine could sink on its first day of patrol and it’s possible that nobody would know until they were late to return to port.

Stacy Pearsall started the Veterans Portrait Project in 2008, inspired by the veterans from every generation and branch of service she encountered at VA waiting rooms during her own rehabilitation from combat injuries in Iraq. She took the first portrait in 2008, then toured the country, shooting portraits of more than 8,500 veterans in all 50 states.

Reflections

‘Where Were You?’–Memories of Sept. 11 Still Surface Through Veteran’s Portrait

by Captain R. Van September 11, 2024January 14, 2026

Sitting for a portrait can be fun. Yet being photographed for the Veterans Portrait Project in the Military Women’s Memorial unnerved me to tears.

Military Family

Sewing Under Duress: Dad’s Military Moves Forced Me to Serve Five Tours of Home Economics

A Marine Wonders: When Taps Finally Plays, What Will My Family Remember About My Service?

Fort Moore Was Named After My Parents. A Letter Mom Wrote Shows Why It Shouldn’t Go Back to Benning

Fifty-Two Years After a US Spy Plane Was Shot Down Over Laos, a Family Still Fights For Answers

Inside San Quentin Prison a Marine Found a New Kind of Family

Sicily to Norway: How an Unexpected Deployment Trip Inspired an Air Force Veteran to Find Her Family Roots

How a New Navy Spouse Found ‘Community Beyond Base’ to Transform Her Life in Japan

Silence Was My Father’s Fortress. I Shared It for a Time Until Poetry Set Me Free.

At 24, I Tried Not to Make Waves. Ten Years Later, I Wish I Had a Do-Over.

My Father Wasn’t Coming. It Was the Story of My Life.

Isolated in an Alien World. Separated and United by a Submarine.

‘Where Were You?’–Memories of Sept. 11 Still Surface Through Veteran’s Portrait

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