Writings

As an army “journalist” – in quotes because military journalism is also called “public affairs” – I wrote lots of articles and editorials on varying topics having to do with the army (2002-2008). Now I write songs, essays, op/eds and whatever else makes sense at the time. You can browse the archives or skip to my work published by:

Warrior Writers
Truth-Out
Broke-Ass Stuart
The US Army

Archives:

  • Reflection | Standing Rock: We Are Not At War “Fall in!” came the command from the front of the Sitting Bull College auditorium Saturday night, and as hundreds of my fellow veterans and I took our places in formation, I fervently hoped that we weren’t about to witness the end of a peaceful movement. When I first saw the news that thousands of veterans were ...
  • Reflection | Keep Standing Rock Decolonized This is a militarized zone unlike any I’ve seen before. One side is armed, while the other chooses not to be. One side faces no threat; the other is threatened from all angles – snow, sleet, sickness, sadness and the System. One side fights violently for oil and money; the other, peacefully, for water and ...
  • Reflection | Silent And Strong: Women Lead At Standing Rock As I march beside hundreds of silent women toward the imposing guards of the Dakota Access Pipeline, I wonder why we don’t do this every damn day, every-damn-where in the world. Arms linked, we march from the camp to the bridge, where behind towering concrete barricades lurks an LMTV (with a gunner!). The smell of ...
  • News | Bringing Truth to the Youth: The Counter-Recruitment Movement, Then and Now “Back when we started, recruiters were just blatantly lying to the kids,” said Susan Quinlan, the co-founder and volunteer coordinator of the peace and justice group, Better Alternatives for Youth–Peace (BAY-Peace). For 12 years, she’s been bringing teams of youth into Oakland, California, schools to inform students about deceptive military recruiting practices. In that time, ...
  • Op/Ed | Thanks for Your Service, but Don’t Tell the Kids About It (We Need Them to Enlist) The question came over my right shoulder, from a well-dressed woman whose nametag proclaimed her to be a member of the Chamber of Commerce in Pittsburg, California. We were in the Pittsburg High School gymnasium, the location of an end-of-year career fair for graduating seniors. Two other veterans and I, along with a civilian friend, ...