The Secretary of Defense and prior military service

With the recent news that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will be vacating his position sooner than originally stated in his resignation letter, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan will be stepping into the Acting SECDEF role on January 1, 2019.  President Trump will now be actively engaged in finding a full-time permanent replacement.  […]

Op-Ed: Service changes you- Celebrating the anniversary of ‘growing up’

Some people tend to get touchy about their birthdays as they get older, and I can certainly understand the reasoning behind it.  We all celebrate the important touchstones of our transition into adulthood at eighteen and twenty-one because each birthday that came prior served as “one more” toward achieving independence, becoming self-reliant, or maybe just […]

How I came to fancy myself a racist (Part I)

(Feature photo: Author (left) and bud Jorge Torrespico, Ft. Benning, GA circa 1980) For my friend and little brother, Mr. Brice Menaugh I was born George Edward Hand IV, descendant of Alan Hand who arrived from Hungary to NYC in 1905, where he was a cobbler (makes/repairs shoes). From Al Hand, came his sons George […]

Pesticides, military service may be tied to ALS risk

People with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS, are more likely to have been exposed to toxic pesticides or to have served in the military than similar people without the condition, according to a new study. ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease in which nerve cells break down over time. ALS affects fewer […]