Trying

Marines are known for storming the beaches, not for romance. I witnessed this firsthand at the base ...

-- Carla Martin

Preparing for Boot Camp

Like any mother, I worried when my son joined the Marines. But later on, when I asked him how ...

-- Dianna Brown

Misguided

As he trained troops at Fort Dix, New Jersey, my brother-in-law noticed that one medic was hopeless ...

-- Robert Sprackland

Deployment

When the Air Force deployed me overseas, my daughter’s friend asked her where I was headed. ...

-- Brian Walker

Letter Home

A letter I received from my son stationed in Baghdad: Mom, Yesterday I was part of a security ...

Placing Blame

My daughter and her husband, naval reservists, have an eight-year-old son. When one of his ...

-- Muriel Smith

Odd Package

An officer in my unit in Iraq was on the phone with his mom. She asked if there was anything he ...

-- Thomas Angstadt

Limb by Limb

While lopping branches off a tree in his yard, my warrant officer lacerated his leg with a chain ...

-- Michael Riley

Unclean

Soon after being transferred to a new duty station, my Marine husband called home one evening to ...

-- Millie Courtis

Government Green

I was charged by the Coast Guard to buy a house near Station Rockland in Maine to be converted into ...

-- Bruce Herman