By Todd DePastino Below is one of the toughest first-person homecoming stories I’ve ever read. And it doesn’t come from an abused Vietnam Veteran or a forgotten Korean War soldier. It’s from a member of the “Greatest Generation” who fought a noble war against Nazi Germany and came home to cheers and parades. Someone
By Todd DePastino On February 23, 1945, five days into the Battle of Iwo Jima, a patrol of U.S. Marines raised an American flag atop Mount Suribachi. A few hours later, a second, larger flag was raised, and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the moment in what would become the most famous American
By John R. Terry “If you choose a fair fight, you chose the wrong fight.” The most favorable outcome in combat is simple to state and hard to achieve: accomplish the mission and bring everyone home alive. In the spring of 1971, I was responsible for planning and directing U.S. and allied naval forces
An Iraqi woman bakes flatbread. (Public Domain) By Brennan Morton After graduating from the University of New Hampshire, Brennan Morton joined the Marine Corps and went on to become a sniper, breacher, and team leader in a Reconnaissance Battalion. He deployed for two combat tours in Iraq before opening a gym in
Leaf from Virgil’s Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid. (Walters Art Museum) By Dr. Joshua Cannon An Arabic cryptologic linguist with the Marine Corps from 2000 to 2005, Dr. Joshua Cannon deployed twice to Iraq—first with the invasion in 2003 and again in 2004. Upon his return, Josh pursued graduate studies in linguistics and
The lithograph that hung in the McKinley family dining room. Combat artist and Army Lieutenant Rudolph Charles von Ripper made it from a sketch he did during the fighting in Anzio, Italy. Staff Sgt. Philip McKinley is the soldier on the field phone. (Jane McKinley) By Jane McKinley Jane McKinley is a
