His name was Commandant Big. It’s almost too perfect a name for a rebel leader. I had read about him in cable traffic while serving as a case officer in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Commandant Big was one of the powerful Forces Nouvelles “comzones” (zone commanders) of Zone 3, a territory that included the rebel-held …
Last week I was on vacation with my family in Hawaii. For the first time in 14 years my wife and I had five days all to ourselves while our kids attended a Navy SEAL Foundation overnight camp on the island. This was such a rare and welcome opportunity for us to unplug …
A few years ago, I was at a fundraising dinner seated next to a Vietnam veteran who self-admittedly suffered from severe PTSD. While discussing his condition, he said to me, “that stuff never goes away.” My response wasn’t what you might expect. I told him that while the memories bothering him won’t disappear, the …
For those of you who did the D-Day Heavy in DC with me, many of you got to hear about this man right here. For those of you who didn’t, I am excited to tell you his story. This is my neighbor John. He just turned 100 this year and he is a World War …
Honor is a tricky sentiment. It’s not as clear cut as the movies or novels often portray. Over the course of my life, there have been times when I felt that I fell short of being honorable. I have regrets over things I did or did not do. There exists a complicity amongst the living, as …
Author’s Note: As I’ve stated before, nothing I state here is prescriptive. I am not a doctor, a psychiatrist, or a neuroscientist. I am someone who has lived with chronic anxiety for over a decade and chronic illness for the last five years. As a result, I’ve proactively sought out and personally tested numerous neural …