2013
A Veteran’s Duty
In 2012, more US service members killed themselves than were killed in combat--349 suicides vs 310 KIA. While numbers don’t tell the whole story, they do identify the fact that mortal danger for US service members is not limited to Afghanistan. The statistics on military suicide are sobering and deserve attention--but that’s not the focus of this post. I want to focus instead on the millions of veterans who might be embarking on the same path that those 349 took last year. I’m no expert on suicide, but I imagine the thought process that brings a person to the decision [...]
Move Is Complete
The drive from Virginia to southern California went better than we had any right to expect. The kids entertained themselves with trinkets and books and Kitty, our dog, enjoyed looking out the back window of our aptly named Honda Fit. When we arrived we found our house to be in pretty good order--never something to take for granted after renting it out for 6 years--but we did have to immediately buy a new refrigerator and stove. Joy. I waited a tortuous two days before finally getting in the water. Somehow it didn't feel right to leave Lena unpacking the house [...]
A Slight Gap in Posts
This will likely be the last time I post for a few weeks. My wife just came home from a two-month trip and we have some, ahem, business to attend to. We’re scrubbing long neglected things, removing dust from hidden crevices, oiling tools, stuffing boxes... You know, packing. What did you think I was talking about? Geez, Ma--get your mind out of the gutter. In about a week we leave Virginia and begin our drive to California. There are just under a million things I need to do between now and then, so it is only logical I spend my [...]
Dr. Seuss Strikes Again
Inspiration comes to me from weird places. I don’t necessarily see them as weird--after all, it is my head--but I can understand how others might see them that way. The inspiration for this post comes from Dr. Seuss, specifically his book Oh, The Places You’ll Go! Even more specifically, it is his description of “...a most useless place. The Waiting Place...” that has reached in and shaken me up. It didn’t happen all at once, but after reading the book to my kids several million times it started to seep in. I was in The Waiting Place. Before I [...]
Matchbox Cars and Time Management
So my intent with this blog is to document my journey after leaving the service. I hope to post entries that provide some nugget of knowledge or kernel of awareness that can assist other veterans along their own journey. To do that though, I generally need some quiet time to formulate a cohesive thought and write it down. That’s just not happening right now. My wife is away on a multi-week business trip, the kids have phantom earaches that only bother them between midnight and 5 am, and the dog ate something that’s giving her the ‘rhea. Quiet time? Umm, [...]
Grandma’s Last Gift
Grandma at Lena and my wedding in 2005. About a month ago I had the opportunity to give a presentation to a group of Vietnam veterans. They asked several questions at the end of my talk that would be good subjects for blog posts. This is one of them. “Have you ever thought about suicide?” The gentleman who’d asked it hadn’t seemed overly interested in my presentation--spent most of it staring at his plate of half-eaten food. I had the impression it was a subject he was acquainted with. “Yes” I answered. And then I wondered why. I’d [...]
Welcome Aboard
Let me be honest–I find the challenge of the "First Post" to be quite daunting. I think I'm supposed to introduce myself, be entertaining, and give a small hint of what will populate future posts in order to entice you, the reader, to come back. That's a lot of ground to cover. But the kids are asleep, the dog is snoring, and the night is still young. It's now or never. I'm Dan, a former Marine Cobra pilot and currently stay at home dad and author. My days used to consist of exciting things–flying helicopters, shooting guns, jumping out of [...]
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