Category: Veteran Culture

In recent years, a series of cringe worthy posts inevitably find their way on to social media that lambaste veterans and chastise civilians about what the appropriate way is to observe Memorial Day. Rather than enjoy a long weekend and some time with our families, we are now expected to be sad and solemn as […]

Four granite memorials meant to honor veterans were destroyed in Brownwood, Texas recently. The slabs lay shattered in pieces across the memorial platform, metal and wood scattered about the bits of granite that now bear engravings that cannot be read. Previously, they had honored veterans from WWII and the 36th Infantry Division which had been […]

Retired Marine Colonel Randy Bresnik cut his teeth as a test pilot for the F/A-18 Hornet program, before going on to serve combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now, he’s an astronaut, and one of the few remaining with the experience necessary to give us the lowdown on how space food stacks up […]

A study was recently conducted by various veteran, psychiatry and other health organizations out of San Francisco, regarding the correlation between TBIs (particularly mild ones), and the likelihood they have on the onset of dementia. Their conclusion reads as such: In this cohort study of more than 350 000 veterans, even mild TBI without LOC was […]

Writing is a unique pursuit — few other things can span the distance between a trade and an art form while still falling under the same all-encompassing moniker. A “writer” might tell a story, educate a child, or offer the public an insight into problems real or imagined. Here at SOFREP, we tend to do […]

I’ve said it before: without memoirs written by the man on the ground, all we would be left with would be the words of generals and upper echelon politicians seeking to make themselves out to be legends who single-handedly won or lost entire conflicts. There is a place for memoirs beyond simple entertainment and in […]

Many were shocked and caught off guard the other day when retired General Thomas McInerney went on Fox News (where he is a paid contributor) and claimed that Senator John McCain betrayed his country while being tortured by Vietnamese communist forces during the war. He referred to McCain as Songbird John. I was not amongst […]

Some of my deployments to Afghanistan have been balls-to-the-wall busy with little to no time for training, video games, hobbies or even working out. Other instances have been filled with long breaks where we were stood down or unable to go on missions for whatever reason. During these times, training is extremely important. It feels […]

There is a moment in Ernest Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” just on the precipice of the culminating battle — the protagonist, Robert Jordan, is to use a group of locals during the Spanish Civil War to blow up a bridge. Robert Jordan has fallen in love with one of the local women during […]

Note: These are the author’s interpretation of quotes said in a context completely separate from today. General Patton was not speaking of 2018, and he certainly wasn’t concerned with what the popular culture might look like nowadays. “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” Thinking in terms of groups is nothing new — […]

You’ve seen it before time and time again — the YouTube videos of foreign Special Operations members drawing their weapons in non-traditional ways lightning fast, engaging two targets with rapid headshots from the hip, transitioning to a knife, stabbing another target in the chest. Well, you’ve probably seen some version of this — you know […]

We all hope to lead long, full lives that end quietly, surrounded by our loved ones. That wish permeates throughout our culture, manifesting in everything from marriage vows to “god bless you” after a sneeze — from meaningful gestures to meaningless courtesies. Different words, different blessings, the same longing: just a little bit longer on […]