There are bigger reasons at play than an insane madman flexing power — In August 2008, the geopolitical intelligence company I worked for went on red alert. Red alerts were an internal code for “All hands on deck. Something in the world just exploded.” That day, I got to work creating maps of Russian and Georgian troop movements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia…

Facing survivor’s guilt, finding redemption, and learning to embrace life after the ultimate sacrifice — Kyle was supposed to be the writer, not me. My mom often referred to Kyle as her “third son” when introducing him to family friends because he would visit my parents even when I wasn’t home. The minute he walked in the door to my childhood home, he would drop…

Western society has bought into some really dumb ideas as to what marriage entails — “No one stands in front of friends and family on their wedding day and thinks, ‘God, I hope we can end this thing violently and hate each other within a few years.’” My friend chuckles at the jest and takes another bite of his omelette before washing it down with…

Even though many veterans came home physically from Iraq, we never fully returned home — “I have gone to war and now I can issue my complaint. I can sit on my porch and complain all day. And you must listen. Some of you will say to me: You signed the contract, you crying bitch, and you fought in a war because of your signature…

Christians, politicians, and news outlets erupted into a free-for-all that teaches us more about ourselves than the commercials — Social media erupted into a firestorm shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl over two commercials made by the agency, He Gets Us. Christians of opposing viewpoints launched into a fisticuffs foray claiming the ads were “too woke” or that they ideologically opposed Jesus’s teachings by spending…

If I pulled half the crap politicians do, I’d be in jail — “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all…

Prince Harry’s bold confession unveils war’s complexities, but fails to grasp the devastating impact of trauma on veterans — The first question asked upon returning home from Afghanistan was, “Did you kill anyone?” The question caught me so off guard that I stuttered for a few moments before replying, “Excuse me?” They changed the subject, and I went about greeting my family. I’d been home a grand total of…

How I’ve found joy despite dad’s cancer, emergency surgery, and a whole slew of other misfortunes — “I begin to suspect that the world is divided not only into the happy and the unhappy, but into those who like happiness and those who, odd as it seems, really don’t.” — C.S. Lewis The leaves had turned a golden hue the day my dad told me had cancer…

Twittergate, hate speech, censorship, and truth in a post-modern era — I was 23 years old when the Westboro Baptist Church picketed my friend Toby’s funeral. Toby had been killed in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded next to his humvee. He was only 30 years old at the time and left behind a wife and young son. …