Tag: #veterans

Veteran Talk – The Trauma Olympics

(Pensacola, Florida; Jan. 25, 2023) – The Trauma Olympics don't actually exists, but there are many people, both veterans and civilians, who still try to root for them! I've never tried to hide my frustration, indeed, my outrage and indignation, that I've been sidelined and marginalized by many veterans organizations and other trauma support groups … Continue reading Veteran Talk – The Trauma Olympics

Mental Health – Tossing Toxic Tails on the Tarmac

(Pensacola, Florida; June 16, 2022) – I threw Alvin out of my house and life only 48 hours into a five-day visit. ‘Alvin’ is not his real name, but we’ll use it here.  I met him in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area back in 2014 when my ex-wife and I first separated.  I was predictably devastated … Continue reading Mental Health – Tossing Toxic Tails on the Tarmac

Veteran Talk – Deceleration is Authorized!

(Pensacola, Florida; Jan. 23, 2022) – The military life is a fast-paced, tightly scheduled animal defined by rigid schedules and flavored with the endless expectation each member will never stop striving forward towards greater leadership and responsibility. The post-military ‘slow down’ in life can make you feel like a bird flying smack into a plate … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Deceleration is Authorized!

Veteran Talk – Morning Quarters

(Niceville, Florida; 16 September 2021) – Twenty-four years ago today I was a trembling, quaking, skinny (yes, I was skinny!) 25-year-old kid swearing into the Navy at the MEPS in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s always fun to look back a bit and see how far you’ve come.  It doesn’t take a scanning electron microscope to see … Continue reading Veteran Talk – Morning Quarters

Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans 2

(Niceville, Florida; August 21, 2021) – It’s been five days now since we watched the horrific farce play out in Afghanistan. I can’t even look at any of my ‘Navy Pride’ stuff.  T-shirts, ball caps, anything.  Looking at it fills me with such rage, such betrayal, such a singular sense of senseless futility that I … Continue reading Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans 2

Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans

(Niceville, Florida; August 17, 2021) – I cannot offer any witty remarks or humorous proverbs about what happened yesterday in Afghanistan.  I’m a veteran myself.  My deployments were at sea, but all were in support of my brothers and sisters on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.  I helped launch the first Navy manned strikes … Continue reading Mental Health: Open Letter to Afghanistan Veterans

Mental Health: Another Shipmate has Fallen

(Silverdale, Washington; Oct. 29, 2020) – Today’s column was supposed to be about the minor success I’ve had with my first novel, Proud Lion, and my plans for book 2, The Norfolk Murders. Sadly, the tragic death of one of my shipmates from the real-life USS Ponce (LPD 15) upended my plans. I served with … Continue reading Mental Health: Another Shipmate has Fallen