Casing the Colors

When a military unit deactivates, whether because of shrinking force numbers, redundant capabilities, or simple realignment, a ceremony is held where the unit’s flags, or “colors”, are rolled tightly and put into storage for good. Unit histories are read, stories are shared, and then everyone carries on with their lives at new assignments and the […]

The Other Reasons #7 : Matt Young

The Other Reasons series, while dominated by essay responses, started out as a simple Q&A. We wanted to see what brought different people into service, and hoped civilian readers would find shades of their own stories in the answers, some tiny connective thread that could be followed towards a deeper conversation. The thing about Matt […]

The Other Reasons #6: Erik Villaseñor

This is the sixth post in an indefinite series. Everyone knows that 9/11 was the horrible mechanism that initiated our descent into a war fought by a small subset of Americans. But how well do you know the men and women who have joined the fight? Do you imagine they are wildly different from you? […]

Call & Response #2: In Love &War

Call & Response is a collaboration between Talk On, Combat Art Collective, and talented veterans and civilians seeking to talk about War. While most modern discussions seem to happen in the response columns below clickbait articles, the past two decades of American conflict begs a deeper and more nuanced conversation. And though there are many […]

Bar Talk

It was Super Bowl Sunday at a Dallas Marriott bar with one lonely flat-screen and no Shiner on tap, so there were seats to be had and space in between them. I sat in the back corner alone nursing a heavy handed old fashioned and watching a slow football game. Sometime during the third quarter, […]

The Boy at the Gate: Jin Park

When I think in dreaming wake Dreary cries of what once took place The calls of young and old in fight What could not lie in peace or light Shattered dreams of love not war The battles fought to fight no more And yet the fighting still persists In hopes of love that we had missed […]

The Other Reasons #5: Leo Jenkins

The Other Reasons is a series about why we fight, what we gained and learned, and how we define war in our lives beyond it. While most contributors so far have shared their stories in the form of an essay, Leo Jenkins chose to go a new route (free thinking is a particular talent of […]

Boots on the Ground (Intro)

I love all the writing and art and creativity this site has exposed me to in the past few months. When I built a place to share a few samples of my own work, I never expected it to evolve into what its become (and to be so quickly eclipsed by the immense talent in […]

Call and Response #1: Buried Alive

A Talk On x Combat Art Collective collaboration with the support of talented artists across the country. (FYI, scroll down for a handy TL;DR version of what’s below for the mouth-breathers out there) Here’s the story: Combat Art Collective (CAC) and the Talk On reached out to artists for contributions to a conversation about the American […]

The Other Reasons #4: Charlie Moose

This is the fourth post in an indefinite series. Everyone knows that 9/11 was the horrible mechanism that initiated our descent into a war fought by a small subset of Americans. But how well do you know the men and women who have joined the fight? Do you imagine they are wildly different from you? […]