Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Serve.
A Return to Passion
She had lived a rich and full life, hectic and crazy busy as it was, in the Navy. It seemed she was always in demand by senior leadership in her specialty as an interpreter and communications specialist. Only a handful of people in the Navy could speak the number of languages she knew fluently. There were even fewer who had the skills in the Navy and its allies' various communication systems. In short, she was a spook and a highly trained one at that.
By Dana Garrett5 years ago in Serve
My Journey With my Story Homefront
When I started writing Homefront, I took a long look back at what it meant to be LGBT in the military. I served during the Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) era. It had its moments, but there was always this looming threat that I couldn't live my truth even though I served my country.
By Jax Altieri5 years ago in Serve
Afghanistan
22 months in Afghanistan is always thought of as “hell on earth” to everyone. I’m not downgrading anyone, I’m just saying there’s different things that make deployments easier than others. My friends may have different memories, but this is just my story, from my eyes...
By Mike Torrez5 years ago in Serve
Memories Of Germany
As I stepped off the charter flight that cold day in April 1979, I knew not what to expect. Here I was for the first time in a country that wasn't my own. We had a sergeant meet us at the airport and then the police dogs came through to sniff our bags for drugs and contraband. I was just eighteen and never been more than five hundred miles from Roanoke, VA for any extended amount of time now here I was more than three thousand miles from home. I was like thousands of others before me fear of the unknown.
By Lawrence Edward Hinchee5 years ago in Serve
MISSION
The Colours of the fall are so beautiful, but November has me feeling heavy and sad for the fallen and those who are still falling. I am also falling... but if I fall, those who love me will suffer and life for them will never ever have the same colours and they almost surely may also fall... Therefore, I still have a purpose here and I do want to stay alive, but why is death always so close to me and always looming over me?
By Luc Levesque5 years ago in Serve
ARAB AND ISRAELI MILITARIES
As someone who has directly trained with IDF and Arab militaries. On the most basic level of training the IDF will outstrip any Arab military. For example, on the individual zeroing weapons was a trial. These Arabs did not believe it was useful and neither did the commanders. Some of the Arab country soldiers thought that basic geometry was like magic. Yes, one millimeter movement of your sight is really one meter at one thousand meters. It works. Does anyone believe I had to make any IDF soldier believe that? This is just an example and indicative of the problems I would encounter in Arab countries on the individual level. Yes, your Arab soldiers need water and food. Believe it or not I had to tell Arab commanders these things. I believe it was systemic because almost everyone I encountered had this attitude. At the company and battalion level the leadership was just lacking. Follow through with even any basic job just was not there. When conducting combat operations, planning was unrealistic, not timely, or just plain bad. We normally just utilized my plan. A lot of the Arab soldiers’ leadership did not and would not lead their soldiers in combat during major operations. They would either want to utilize the radio from base or take annual leave. I wrote this part in another post but it is relevant. When we were setting up basic combat training for the Jundi in Habbiniya, the Iraqi Army had virtually a blank check to train the Jundi how they wanted. Unlimited funds really. I said, “You can train them like the United States Marine Corps, Army, French Foreign Legion, Royal Marines,” I showed them videos of entire boot camps and basic training, the follow-on training they received. “Nope, we’re going to train in the dirt and not utilize any technology or experience from modern militaries. Because that training worked against the Americans.”
By Johnathon Mackin5 years ago in Serve
Marine Corps Stories: The Drone Plan
The spinning blades of the drone whirred with intensity. The cerulean brilliance of the morning sky was only enhanced by the presence of some small, pure-whte cumulus clouds. Each of the blades reflected the sunlight as the device raised up from the ground. Anyone looking up at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Base in Arizona couldn’t help but see the drone.
By Skyler Saunders5 years ago in Serve
A Fallen Soldier
A Fallen Soldier Olivia Crowe She jolted upright in a cold sweat. On high alert from the gruesome flashbacks, all she could hear was rapid machine guns and screams. Her nose was assaulted with a memory of gunpowder and iron seemed to be filling the air. She looked around frantically and after a moment she realized she wasn't on the battlefield. It had been three weeks since she was given her honorable discharge. After five years of service it seemed like her life was back to the beginning. Five years she had known everything she needed to do with her life. Where to be and when. Now she was lost. Her life seemed over. She wasn’t able to start her intern year for residency until the therapist her corporal assigned had her cleared for practice. So here she was. Twenty-three and trapped in the house her mother left her. No family in Seattle anymore and no friends since she grew up in Atlanta. Looking at the clock she sighed. Three in the morning and with no hope to fall asleep again she rolls out of her bed. Into the kitchen to start coffee she gently pats her dog. A two year old retired military dog named Atlas. He was retired at the same time she was. His handler had been shot down in an ambush in Iraq. They were going to put Atlas down after he had been brought in with a shattered leg and a bullet wound. Everyone told her that he wasn’t worth saving but she saw a kindred spirit in him. He had seen and survived the drums of war. He helped her recover in the rehab facility and she put in the request to take him home with her. Her impeccable record allowed approval of her request immediately then it seemed her and Atlas were on their way home. They settled into what has become their routine very quickly. She would have a therapy session at seven but before then she decides to start breakfast.
By Olivia Crowe5 years ago in Serve
