Opinion Forum

Moral Injury: Another Hidden Wound of War

February 24th, 2013

By Jan Barry Often lost in the translation of war, for soldiers as well as folks back home, is that much of what goes on in a war is a moral outrage. After a decade and more of warfare by American military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere in hot pursuit of elusive bands […]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq, moral injury, PTSD, suicide, VA, veterans, Vietnam
Categories: Military, Politics | Comments (0) | Home

Veterans Administration Cemetery in Houston Bans God

June 29th, 2011

By Dan Miller Even President Obama’s religious mentor for twenty years, the Reverend Mr. Wright, used the word that shall no longer be mentioned. According to this article, Local veterans and volunteer groups accuse Department of Veterans Affairs officials of censoring religious speech — including the word “God” — at Houston National Cemetery. In one […]

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: ban, cemetery, chapel, federal, free speech, God, national, satire, VA
Categories: Military, News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

“Poster Girl” Draws Crowd

June 10th, 2011

By Jan Barry “Poster Girl,” the 2011 Oscar-nominated documentary, drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people in a recent showing at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck, NJ. The June 1 event also included a discussion with director Sara Nesson and Robynn Murray, the Iraq war veteran whose story is the focus of […]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: documentary, Iraq, Oscar, PTSD, Robynn Murray, Sara Nesson, VA, veteran
Categories: Life, Military, News | Comments (2) | Home

At the Movies: A Veteran’s War

March 3rd, 2011

By Jan Barry It was a long way from a machinegun mount in a military convoy in Baghdad. Robynn Murray’s getup was very elegant on Sunday at the Academy Awards in Beverly Hills, California. What made her stand out from the famous movie stars at Hollywood’s gala event was the brace of tattooed pistols perched […]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: documentary, Iraq, Oscar, Poster Girl, PTSD, Robynn Murray, VA
Categories: Life, Military, News | Comments (2) | Home

Agent Orange’s Toxic Legacy Hits Home

January 13th, 2011

By Jan Barry Retired Master Sergeant LeRoy Foster is haunted by the job that launched his 20-year career in the US Air Force—spraying herbicides along perimeter fences and fuel pipelines at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. This duty seemed inconsequential, field maintenance work done amid B-52 bombers thundering in and out to refuel for […]

Articles written by Jan Barry
Tags: Agent Orange, birth defects, contamination, disease, Guam, VA, veterans
Categories: Military, News, Politics, Science | Comments (46) | Home