war is us

The nearly unbearable realization that being at war is who we are as humans.

medal or metal

The officers wear the medals, the soldiers feel the shrapnel.

crawling forward

A mother released her infant to crawl across the battlefield.

you're welcome to it

As bad as we are to one another as fellow human inhabitants of this world and the more we degrade the planet that sustains us, the more we believe, if our movies are any gauge, that aliens want to take it all from us. To echo the old comic’s gag line “Take my earth, please.”

unshared carnage

The all-volunteer armed forces makes war less visible to large portions of the population. The draft, taking young men without their consent, makes all of the nation keenly aware of a war’s wasteful carnage. As it now stands, the volunteers come from two classes: Those conscripted by poverty or lack of prospects. Those with romantic notions of patriotism or adventure. The rest of our youth (and their parents) remain unscathed by the foreign wars.

no hero here

Is it possible to be a hero on the side waging an unjust war?