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? […]

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? […]

The Other Reasons #3: Kasey Pipitt

This is the third 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? […]

The Other Reasons #2: Arne Smith

This is the second 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? […]

The Other Reasons #1: Keith Dow

This is the first 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? […]

The Other Reasons (Intro)

All of these stories from the Global War on Terror invariably lead back to that Tuesday in September. I was a sophomore in high school and I was sitting in math class. A teacher walked in suddenly from the neighboring classroom carrying a disbelieving smirk on his face. Not the inappropriate kind, just the face […]