Veterans

Bracing Walk on the Other Side of War Literature

Review of River City One by John Waters, a novel of coming home from war

Faith and Values: Revisiting The Long Gray Line

How a military works to rebuild itself, and how to find value in service to an ungrateful nation are evergreen lessons of Atkinson’s novel.

Seventy-five Years of The Best Years of Our Lives: A Retrospective on War and Peace
Seventy-five Years of The Best Years of Our Lives: A Retrospective on War and Peace

Seventy-five years ago, the Samuel Goldwyn masterpiece “The Best Years of Our Lives” premiered to universal critical and popular acclaim. Reviewing the film now, two overarching contrasts between past and present are clear.

Presbyterian Church Serves Military Families with Hail and Farewell, Educated Civilians
Presbyterian Church Serves Military Families with “Hail and Farewell,” Educates Civilians

Can other churches use hail and farewell events to welcome military families better, educate civilians about military life, and show how servicemembers serve the church?

Burns and Novick’s The Vietnam War is Profoundly and Fundamentally Wrong
Burns and Novick’s The Vietnam War is Profoundly and Fundamentally Wrong

From my perspective the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick production of “The Vietnam War” had but one objective: to reinforce the standard anti-war narrative that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, illegal, immoral, and ineptly conducted by the allies from start to finish.

Some Soils and Seeds of Isolationism
Some Soils and Seeds of Isolationism

Isolation may be impractical, but its appeal is very understandable. In this article, originally published on June 14, 1943, in Christianity and Crisis, Charles Gilkey presents six influences upon this school of thought, and emphasizes the importance of giving primacy to the opinion of returning veterans in defining future U.S. foreign policy.

A President Honors Wounded Veterans: Review of George W. Bush’s Portraits of Courage

President George W. Bush’s Portraits of Courage can help the nation, and especially the Church, better understand wounded warriors.

The (Twin) Wounds of War Moral Injury Spiritual Injury
The (Twin) Wounds of War

Much has been written on the types of “woundedness” warriors suffer in combat, including physical, mental, emotional, and even moral injury. However, the U.S. has failed to explore a warrior’s spiritual injury in combat and its debilitating, life-long effects (including for a warrior’s family).

D-Day
When History Tipped toward Freedom

It was a day, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, when “the pride of our nation” began a battle…