Family members touched by the consequences of serving in the military

A Soldier from Company C, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, pulls security in a town near Kirkuk, Iraq, as a Kiowa Warrior helicopter from 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, patrols the area surrounding the village in 2006. Photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson, courtesy of the U.S. Army.

I Watched His Blood Wash Out of the OH-58D. It Was a Hell of a Way to Grow Up.

by B.B. Sanders September 20, 2023January 14, 2026

War brings about all sorts of emotions. The darkest ones get never-ending attention. Yet this was the happiest day of my life.

Maria Rossi writes about losing her father at the Lucky Spur Ranch in Justin, Texas, during the 2023 Writing Seminar for Gold Star Children and Siblings. Photo by Babee Garcia.

Reflections

The Cadence of the 21 Gunshots Pierced My Ears. I Braced Myself for Each One.

by Maria Rossi September 6, 2023February 24, 2026

My dad and I had an ideal father-daughter relationship. He was my hero, and I was Daddy’s little girl. I didn’t fear him, but I feared disappointing him.

Chez Chesak’s first child was born just as he headed to war. He met her five months later at the Boise, Idaho, airport, while home on leave. Photo courtesy of the author.

Reflections

I Heard My Daughter’s First Cry From 7,000 Miles Away. Hours Later, I Was in a War Zone.

by Chez Chesak August 30, 2023January 14, 2026

Still in desert camouflage, I picked her up carefully, gave her a gentle hug and a kiss—my first kiss to my first child.

Reflections

I Can’t Afford the Grace of Failure. I’m a Survivor.

by Cierra Becker August 8, 2023February 24, 2026

The point is to push your boundaries not within the limits of survival but until turbulent failure. This strange new concept sends me on a spiral.

Lance Minor as a young Marine. “Resiliency is more than pushing on when you’re tired,” he writes. “It’s understanding what you’ve learned—and growing stronger from it.”

Reflections

This Is the Crucible That Forged Me, But I Am No Piece of Steel. None of Us Are.

by Lance Minor August 2, 2023January 14, 2026

The living form a gauntlet listening to Taps and the jarring report of the 21-gun salute. The wind kicks up moon dust, and you can smell the heat.

Baby makes three. Amanda Huffman, her husband, and their son. Photo courtesy of the author.

Reflections

A Life of Service Doesn’t End When You Take Off the Uniform. Now I Forge My Own Path.

by Amanda Huffman July 19, 2023September 29, 2025

The military changed me in ways I didn’t fully appreciate. Now it was over and I was a mom and a military spouse but no longer a service member.

Reflections

Their Lives Would Never Be the Same. In Some Ways, Neither Would Mine.

by Joel Searls July 10, 2023January 14, 2026

What about all the lives lost? What about the ones we didn’t know but whose deaths we learned about on screens and in telephone calls?

Cheyenne Smith and her dad at the Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy of the author.

Reflections

You Cannot Go Back, and It Never Really Gets Better. Sometimes the Truth Is Cruel.

by Cheyenne Smith June 28, 2023January 14, 2026

The “better” you’re searching for is the way you once were before you wound up bloody on the floor. That’s gone now.

A day after Josh died by suicide, his father handed out chalk for family and friends to write messages on the driveway and sidewalk. Danielle Rushing wrote this message to her brother. Photo courtesy of the author.

Reflections

Twenty Minutes – My Chest Fills With Burning Coals. But I Keep Breathing.

by Danielle Rushing June 14, 2023February 24, 2026

I’m surrounded by grief, love, laughter, joy, sorrow, and devastation, but it belongs to them. None of it belongs to me. My ache is my own.

Reflections

Think Directing Troops on the Battlefield Is Tough? Try Dinner Skirmishes With Toddlers.

by Luke A. Pernotto June 7, 2023January 22, 2026

The battles I’m winning now aren’t successful executions of large-scale exercises or divisional deployment plans. My successes now are much smaller.

Newsroom

America Faces a Tidal Wave of Aging Veterans, Including a 237% Increase in Women Over 65 by 2041

by Sonner Kehrt June 1, 2023July 25, 2025

As Vietnam and Gulf War-era veterans age, they bring with them new needs, different expectations for care, and greater diversity than those who came before.

Bailey Donahue runs a marathon in honor of her dad alongside Wear Blue in San Antonio, Texas, in December 2021. Photo courtesy of the author.

Reflections

‘Embrace the Suck’–Life as a Gold Star Child is a Race With No Finish Line

by Bailey Donahue May 25, 2023February 24, 2026

I can’t accept that he’s a few feet away from me, waiting to join a sea of white stones and perfectly cut green grass. I don’t want to walk away.

Military Family

I Watched His Blood Wash Out of the OH-58D. It Was a Hell of a Way to Grow Up.

The Cadence of the 21 Gunshots Pierced My Ears. I Braced Myself for Each One.

I Heard My Daughter’s First Cry From 7,000 Miles Away. Hours Later, I Was in a War Zone.

I Can’t Afford the Grace of Failure. I’m a Survivor.

This Is the Crucible That Forged Me, But I Am No Piece of Steel. None of Us Are.

A Life of Service Doesn’t End When You Take Off the Uniform. Now I Forge My Own Path.

Their Lives Would Never Be the Same. In Some Ways, Neither Would Mine.

You Cannot Go Back, and It Never Really Gets Better. Sometimes the Truth Is Cruel.

Twenty Minutes – My Chest Fills With Burning Coals. But I Keep Breathing.

Think Directing Troops on the Battlefield Is Tough? Try Dinner Skirmishes With Toddlers.

America Faces a Tidal Wave of Aging Veterans, Including a 237% Increase in Women Over 65 by 2041

‘Embrace the Suck’–Life as a Gold Star Child is a Race With No Finish Line

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