I was reading a few days ago the words of a veteran as he recalled what he experienced in the past from being downrange in Iraq following an encounter with the enemy: “ I have never been shot at in my civilian life.  I have never been blown up in my civilian life.  I have never lost an ‘adopted’ child to a suicide bomber in my civilian life.  And, I have never had to listen to a man’s death over the Med-Evac frequency in my civilian life.  All those things happened during my year in Iraq.”...

Charles Moore writes the following in The Plough Reader (Autumn 2002): “When I first became a pacifist, I hit the warpath. In my zeal, I tried hard to convert others to my newfound position. I didn’t recognize that my zeal was blinding – and hardening me. I had ‘seen the light.’ Now those who differed from me were hawks, war-mongers, compromisers, enemies of humanity, or mutineers of Jesus. ‘Size them up and shut ‘em out’ became my modus operandi.” On the other hand, Dietrich Bonhoeffer,...

Now that we have gone through many situations and experiences during the past year, 2025, what can we expect in 2026? This is a question many veterans face after a year of deployments and upon returning to establish a more “normal” life. All of the exciting and heart-warming airport and loading dock welcomes, parades, flag-waving, and other gratifying home celebrations are behind us. Returning home from deployment(s) can be a time of incredible happiness, but what comes next? As things calm...