Desert Storm and Forward

Traumatic Brain Injuries have been diagnosed in more than 450,000 service members between the years 2000 and 2021.  These “invisible wounds” can cause physical, mental and emotional damage. A recent short film titled “Brainstorms” shows the impacts that these wounds can have upon the victims and their families. Two medical professionals join us to discuss this issue. Dr. Chrisanne Gordon is founder of the Resurrecting Lives Foundation and Dr. Josh Appel is Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Southern Arizona [...]

“The Shot: The Harrowing Journey of a Marine in the War on Terror” tells the story of Sgt. Bill Bee’s narrow brush with death and the challenges he faced post- service. It is co-authored by Sgt. Bee and Daily Mail editor Wills Robinson. Bill was deployed with his unit in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan when Goran Tomsevic, a Serbian embedded reporter from Reuters joined them.  Bill did not have much respect for “embeds” after his first reporter requested to [...]

Coffee or Die Executive Editor Marty Skovlund, Jr. had two aspirations in High School; play for the NBA and become an Army Ranger. The Los Angeles Lakers never called but he did earn a Ranger tab. The idea that someday he would be doing “classic Ernie Pyle” journalism never crossed his mind. Marty founded The Havok Journal to give a voice to the Veteran community.  Later, he approached Evan Hafer (a fellow soldier and Founder/CEO of Black Rifle Coffee Company) [...]

Don Bentley read his first Tom Clancy novel when he was 13 years old. This Army Veteran is now writing for the “Tom Clancy universe” with his first novel achieving best seller status. Both Don’s grandfather and father served in the military. He was awarded an Army ROTC scholarship to Ohio State University and went on to fly Apache gunships. Don flew as part of the Quick Reaction Force on Operation Red Wings. Following his Army career, Don briefly tried [...]

“Eagle Down; The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War” is a powerful book by Jessica Donati that is receiving high praise from many including Sebastian Junger.  Jessica currently covers foreign affairs for the Wall Street Journal. She was the bureau chief in Kabul in 2015 and lived four years in Afghanistan. Eagle Down tells the personal stories of several Green Berets posted to Afghanistan conducting “training operations” following the official declaration that the “longest war in American history was [...]

“Sacrifice: A Gold Star Widow’s Fight for the Truth” by Michelle Black is a powerful read.  News that her Green Beret husband had been killed in action was just the beginning of a nightmare for Michelle and her family. Sacrifice is not a “grief” but rather emphasizes why it is important for our military families to be told the complete truth. Staff Sergeant Bryan Black was a Green Beret medical specialist killed October 4th, 2017 in Niger.  Staff Sergeant Jeremiah [...]

Lt. Col. Charles Faint joins us to further explore a couple of his recent military life related articles. His stories are often humorous but always insightful. (Disclaimer: Charles currently serves in the US Army. His opinions are his own and do not represent the policies or opinions of the US Army or West Point Academy.) Most of his stories usually begin with his two young daughters “ratting him out”. It happens so often he has taken to calling them OPSEC [...]

The Battle of Fallujah tested Dr. Donnelly Wilkes in many ways. It refined his medical skills AND his faith. He tells his story in the autobiography  Wilkes had accepted a Navy scholarship and was in his fourth year of medical school when the September 11th attacks occurred. At that moment he realized his career as a Navy doctor was likely to take a different turn. He chose to embed with the Marines in order to stay closer to his wife. [...]