12th Annual Ride Remembers 'Red Bull' Soldier

Photos: Dan Sesker Memorial Poker Run

Organizers of the 12th Annual Dan Sesker Memorial Poker Run are taking on-line registrations for the Sun., May 28, 2017 event, which takes place during Memorial Day weekend.

The event commemorates Iowa Army National Guard Sgt. Dan Sesker, killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) on April 6, 2006 in the vicinity of Tikrit, Iraq. He was nine days short of his twenty-third birthday.

The event will start and finish in Ogden, Iowa. Day-of-ride registration and sign-in will be 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the Ogden city park.

In a poker run, registered participants are dealt random cards and each stop along a designated route. At the final stop of the day, the participant with the highest poker hand wins a pot of cash. Raffles, T-shirt sales, and other fund-raising efforts may also take place during the event. There will be food, drinks, and entertainment at the end of the ride, according to organizers, and the event will be held rain or shine.

James "Juice" Justice and Dan Sesker

Sesker was a member of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment (1-113th Cav.), both then and now part of the Iowa's 2nd Brigade, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. In his role as a citizen, he was a youth counselor and part-time police officer. He learned his fiancée was pregnant with their first child while he was deployed, and looked forward to his future role as a father.

Sesker was friends with many citizen-soldiers, including Staff Sgt. James "Juice" Justice, who was himself killed in action during a later brigade deployment to Afghanistan. Proceeds for 2016 poker run event will go to:

• The Gage Sesker Trust Fund
• Scouts Out Memorial Scholarship
• Skydive Weekend for Veterans
• Glenwood Cemetery in Ogden (American flags replacement effort)
• Scouts Out Memorial Veterans Assistance Fund

A Facebook page for the event is here.

A website is here.

When available, the 2017 route map will be posted here. Via social media, organizers have announced stops will include:

• Ogden City Park
• The Dog House, Colo
• The Hubb in Hubbard
• Pickles Bar & Grill, Kamrar
• Riverside Taver, LeHigh
• The Lucky Pig, Ogden

'White Christmas' (1954) is an Olive Drab Fairy Tale

An epiphany of sorts occurred earlier this week, as the Sherpa household took its first steps into this decidedly snow-less Advent season: "White Christmas" (1954), a beloved movie musical that stars Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, has as much to say about civil-military reintegration as it does getting into the proper holiday spirit.

The movie opens in the European Theater on Christmas Eve, 1944. Army Capt. Bob Wallace (played by Crosby) and Pvt. Phil Davis (Kaye) are entertaining their fellow troops of the fictional U.S. 151st Division. Wallace is a celebrated Broadway entertainer. Davis is hustling for a big break. The first song is the movie's titular track—the big guns are upfront. Fire for effect.

Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" manages to deliver the same melancholy as "I'll Be Home for Christmas," a similarly brief 1943 tune composed by Walter Kent, and also popularized by Crosby. Lyricist Kim Gannon wrote the latter based on a poem by Buck Kent. Listening to each song, it's easy to put oneself in the mindset of a soldier deployed far away from home, although only the latter was explicitly written with that intent.

Just in case you don't remember it, Berlin's song goes:

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow […]

While the division's new spit-and-polish commander gets sidetracked on a "shortcut" route back to headquarters ("There's no Christmas in the Army, Colonel!"), outgoing division commander Maj. Gen. Thomas F. Waverly (played by Dean Jagger) says a heartfelt and bittersweet good-bye to the troops. The scene accurately captures the shoulder-chuck joshing and good-natured posturing that is universal among soldiers, in my opinion, as well as the hail-and-farewell affection between officers and subordinates.

(Another example of such humor, later in the film: "We wouldn’t be any good as generals," says the former Pvt. Davis. Waverly gently chides, half-smiling: "You weren’t any good as privates.")

To an upbeat marching tempo, the troops sing a tongue-in-cheek tune called "The Old Man." The title evokes the military custom of informally referring to a commander as "the old man," as long as he is not present:

We'll follow the old man wherever he wants to go
Long as he wants to go opposite to the foe

We'll stay with the old man wherever he wants to stay
Long as he stays away from the battle's fray

Because we love him, we love him
Especially when he keeps us on the ball

And we'll tell the kiddies we answered duty's call
With the grandest son of a soldier of them all

After the war, Wallace and Davis team up on stage to great success. They meet two sisters, who are also entertainers. Eventually, through a series of misadventures, the four encounter the retired general in Vermont, where he owns a failing winter-season resort. There is no snow.

To help bail out their former commander, Wallace and Davis bring their full song-and-dance troupe to Vermont. Wallace surreptitiously reaches out to the division's alumni via an old Army buddy's television variety program. "Remember, then, your objective is Pine Tree, Vermont," says Wallace to the national TV audience. "Synchronize your watches for Operation Waverly!" The troops show up en masse. The girls maneuver the general to wear his old uniform to that evening's stage performance. It is a hugely successful surprise operation. Everyone eats cake.

Appropriately enough, the cake has a tank topper.

Before Santa Crosby shows up, and before the cast sings "White Christmas" one more time, the cast performs a number called "Gee, I Wish I was Back in the Army":

[...] When I mustered out
I thought without a doubt
That I was through with all my care and strife
I thought that I was then
The happiest of men
But after months of tough civilian life 

Gee, I wish I was back in the Army
The Army wasn't really bad at all [...]

There's a double-romance in the movie, too, of course, with lots of understandings and misunderstandings along the way. That alone is usually worth the price of admission. Then again, I've had a crush on Rosemary Clooney since I was my son's age. But for me, at least this year, the primary story was that of the general. And the tribe of old soldiers that deployed themselves to do a good deed for an old Army friend. Because they love him.

God bless our buddies everywhere. God bless us, everyone.

11th Annual Ride Remembers 'Red Bull' Soldier

Photos: Dan Sesker Memorial Poker Run

Organizers of the 11th Annual Dan Sesker Memorial Poker Run are taking on-line registrations for the Sun., May 29, 2016 event, which takes place during Memorial Day weekend.

The event commemorates Iowa Army National Guard Sgt. Dan Sesker, killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) on April 6, 2006 in the vicinity of Tikrit, Iraq. He was nine days short of his twenty-third birthday.

The event will start and finish in Ogden, Iowa. Day-of-ride registration and sign-in will be 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. in the Ogden city park.

In a poker run, registered participants are dealt random cards and each stop along a designated route. At the final stop of the day, the participant with the highest poker hand wins a pot of cash. Raffles, T-shirt sales, and other fund-raising efforts may also take place during the event. There will be food, drinks, and entertainment at the end of the ride, according to organizers, and the event will be held rain or shine.

James "Juice" Justice and Dan Sesker

Sesker was a member of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment (1-113th Cav.), both then and now part of the Iowa's 2nd Brigade, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division. In his role as a citizen, he was a youth counselor and part-time police officer. He learned his fiancée was pregnant with their first child while he was deployed, and looked forward to his future role as a father. S

esker was friends with many citizen-soldiers, including Staff Sgt. James "Juice" Justice, who was himself killed in action during a later brigade deployment to Afghanistan. Proceeds for 2016 poker run event will go to:

• The Gage Sesker Trust Fund
• Iowa C.O.P.S.
• Sesker Memorial Scholarship

A Facebook page for the event is here.

A website is here.

When available, the 2016 route map will be posted here. Via social media, organizers have announced stops will include:

• Ogden
• Boxholm 
• Grand Junction 
• Jamaica 
• Woodward 
• Ogden

Book Review: 'Terminal Lance: The White Donkey'

Review: "Terminal Lance: The White Donkey" by Maximilian Uriarte

As mil-humor enthusiasts and web comic fans can attest, Maximilian Uriarte's graphic novel "Terminal Lance: The White Donkey" has been a long time coming. And it has been worth the wait.

The Iraq War veteran and former Marine successfully funded his magnum opus in August 2013. The 284-page book released on Feb. 1, 2016, and quickly sold out. The creator has hinted at making arrangements for another print run.

The White Donkey tells the story of Abe and Garcia, two fictional characters who have previously appeared Uriarte's "Terminal Lance" three-panel comic, which publishes twice weekly on-line, and weekly in the Marine Corps Times print edition.

The titular white donkey is a beast of Uriarte's own memory and experience—an animal that he once encountered in Iraq. The donkey is real. Uriarte writes:

We had five fully armored vehicles, 23 Marines loaded to the teeth with rifles, grenades, crew-served weapons, and all the might and power of the United States Armed Forces. All of it was brought to a screeching halt by the most benign of animals.

A lone White Donkey made us all look like asses.

The donkey is also metaphorical. The white donkey could be Abe's version of Ahab's white whale. It could be his white buffalo. It might symbolize Iraq, or the Middle East. It might even be God.

Nested within such rich ambiguity, Uriarte has created a smart-bomb of a literary device: A graphic novel that's graphic enough to portray the necessary bits about war being an ugly thing; sweet enough to depict the boot camp bromance of battle buddies on the road to war and back again; and downright beautiful enough to be regarded as mother-effin' literature.

It's an asymmetrical weapon designed to breach the civil-military divide. A Trojan Horse, potentially getting veterans and civilians to open up about their respective wartime experiences. Yes, there are jokes. Yes, it is entertaining. Yes, it is a "comic." It is also an important book.

As Brian Castner, Iraq War veteran and writer of "The Long Walk" and the upcoming "All the Ways We Kill and Die" tweeted earlier this month: "Every non-writer vet I know, the guys who don't professionally talk abt books, is talking about this @TLCplMax book."

That's because Uriarte is a skilled observer of the human condition, as well as Marine life. He's an effective writer—direct, to the point, no B.S.—and a fantastic visual storyteller.

Artistically, the book is a tour de force: Freed from the black-and-white tyranny of the newspaper page, Uriate's confidently executed linework is now augmented with a full-spectrum of mono-colored, ink-washed effects.

He varies his color palettes, spread by 2-page spread: Greens for boot camp scenes. Khakis and dusky rose for 29 Palms and Iraq. Blues and grays for home in Portland, Ore. Purple for dream sequences.

Occasionally, Uriarte punches a single object into reader awareness by depicting it in fuller color: An Iraqi flag. A U.S. shoulder patch. A bottle of Gatorade.

Uriarte also experiments with splash pages—scenes that cover a whole page or spread—and occasionally fades to white during transitions. In a few climactic scenes, he boldly keeps his readers' gaze on hard-to-stomach realities, creating slow-motion sequences, splash page after splash page.

This story could not be told as effectively in any other way—screenplay or novel—without diminishing the magic.

In short, "The White Donkey" turns out to be a unicorn. A bright, shiny, mythical ride. A beast capable of inspiring, informing, and enlightening. Do not look away. Do not frighten it. Follow it, if you can.

You might find what you're looking for.

'A Few of Sherpa's Favorite Things': Holiday Gift Ideas

ARTWORK: Christina Fawn

The mailroom at FOB Sherpa has been working overtime this week, with both outgoing and incoming parcels. The past year has been a productive one for Task Force Sherpa, judging by the November arrival of three books featuring by-lines related to the Red Bull Rising blog. I hope you'll indulge me and my inner Oprah if I include them on this year's list of favorite things:

The most obvious, of course, would be the just-published "Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire." Early reader response has been overwhelming, and I am wonderfully surprised and wholly grateful.

A number of reviewers have suggested that "FOB Haiku" might be a good holiday gift for veterans, but I also hope that veterans might share it with family members and friends. Maybe my small book can be a way to open conversations with others. Give the book to a friend or loved one, and then talk about it afterward. That way, your discussion doesn't have to be uncomfortably centered on you, but on the types of experiences described in the book.

Also, I hope that some of them make you laugh. (Check out some examples at: www.fobhaiku.com.)

Published annually on Veterans Day, the anthology "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors" ($15 U.S.) is now in its fourth volume. I'm proud to have work featured in this year's volume, and prouder still to see the names of friends, colleagues, and fellow travelers. The best part of receiving this literary care package, however, is discovering new voices and perspectives in civil-military discourse.

There's something here for every reader, from every branch and era, including short stories, poems, non-fiction essays, photographs, and interviews. A joint project of the Missouri Humanities Council and the Southeast Missouri State University Press, Cape Girardeau, Mo., no other book series engages the world with such precision, passion, and professionalism. I look forward to offering a more complete review in an future Red Bull Rising post, but for now, here's the bottom line: For a great holiday gift—one certain to inspire much reflection and conversation—"Proud to Be" is a clear and present choice.

To spread such literary joy over an entire year, consider giving a $40 print subscription to the Veterans Writing Project's "O-Dark-Thirty" journal. Each 80-plus-page issue delivers a curated blast of the best of current military writing. Spring 2016 will see the publication of a special issue, one focused on the stories and perspectives of women veterans.

A third book newly arrived is "No, Achilles" ($15 U.S.), a 75-page collection of poetry published earlier this year by WaterWood Press, Austin, Texas. The book collects 64 poems witnessing the experiences of war. My own "night vision," inspired by 2011's "Operation Bull Whip" and other air-assault missions like it in Afghanistan, first appeared in the publication. Unfortunately for Internet-clickers like me, the book is not available on-line. Orders by check or money order to: WaterWood Press, 47 Waterwood, Huntsville, Texas 77320. Include $1 per book shipping and handling.

Sherpatude No. 26 starts with "Humor is a combat multiplier …" And no creator delivers so regularly on that premise than DoctrineMan!!. When he isn't busy trying to draft retired U.S. Marine Gen. James Mattis (Callsign: "Chaos") to run for president in 2016, the mysterious DoctrineMan!! continues to crack wise from his undisclosed location, posting his pithy comics on Facebook and elsewhere.

He, too, has recently issued a fourth print volume, this one titled "Up in Smoke: An Illustrated Memoir of War (The Further Adventures of Doctrine Man!!)" This year's cover features a tech-suited warrior pulling picket-stirring duty in some foreign land. As I like to say, "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again." And DoctrineMan!! makes me laugh, again and again. He's always (wait for it) ... stirring things up.

Speaking of Mattis, writer, artist, Iraq War veteran and former Marine Christina Fawn has made a "Chesty vs. Mattis" vintage boxing poster art print available for sale at her on-line store at Society6. There are a variety of sizes and formats available, including 10x8; 17x13; 21x17 inches. Available framed or unframed. The perfect gift for any Marine, whether "Old Corps" or "New Corps"!

(Bonus question from an old Army guy: Aren't they all Marines just "Hard Corps"?!)

PHOTO: RangerUp

Another artist-veteran friend of Sherpa, Aaron Provost, sells a variety of artwork and (at Society6) merchandise featuring his signature black-and-white illustrations of military equipment, logos, and scenes. His was the pencil illustration of the Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected truck that now graces the cover of "Welcome to FOB Haiku." I love how his work makes you see military machinery in new ways.

In his day job, Provost also works for the volcanic creative collective that is RangerUp gear and apparel. Trying to keep up with these guys is like running a 3-minute mile. There's always something new on their website. My personal favorite of their current line-up? The "Bagram Hiking Club" vintage T-shirt. On the back, it reads "Tread lightly."

There's a similar one for Iraq-deployment enthusiasts: "Bagdhad Summer Camp: You'll have a blast!"

Sherpa's Rules of Engagement for Veterans Day

Meme courtesy of the Internet

Call it a safety briefing, or some half-baked Sherpatudes, or just some friendly advice ... Here are few truths and truisms to keep in mind this November 11th. Take what you can use, leave the rest:

1. Crossing the civil-military divide means meeting people halfway. Free appetizers and utterances of "thank you for your service" represent, in most cases, sincere and heartfelt attempts by civilians to bridge that gap. Don't make them work too hard. Don't put obstacles in their way. At least they're trying.
   
   
2. You're a veteran now. Be civil.
   
   
3. Remember how we were once supposed to win "hearts and minds" in someone else's country? Veterans day is about the hearts and minds of your fellow citizens. Don't screw it up.
   
   
4. Have a response plan. What are you going to say when someone says, "Thank you for your service"? Be gracious. Be polite. Be concise. One of my go-to phrases? "It was an honor to serve."
   
   
5. If someone calls you a "hero," let it go unremarked. Yes, you may not feel like a hero. You may, like other veterans, reserve that particular term for those who have been formally recognized for valor, or for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Being someone's hero isn't about you, however. It's about the other person. Everyone has their own war; everyone chooses their own heroes.
   
   
6. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If someone—an individual or a business—picks up your tab, make sure you still tip your waiter or waitress. Thank them for their service.
   
   
7. "All you can eat" doesn't mean you should.
   
   
8. Don't be pedantic. Yes, Veterans Day is technically for celebrating those who have served in the U.S. military. Memorial Day is about remembering those who have died in military service to their country. And Armed Forces Day is about celebrating those who currently serve. You don't have to put your inner drill sergeant on display, however, every time someone doesn't say something in exactly the right way.
   
   
9. "Pedantic" means "precise, exact, perfectionist, punctilious, meticulous, fussy, fastidious, finicky, dogmatic, purist, literalist, literalistic, formalist, casuistic, sophistic, captious, hair-splitting, quibbling, nitpicking, persnickety." Don't be that guy.
   
   
10. You know who's "pedantic," by the way? The freaking Taliban.
    
    
11. There is no apostrophe in "Veterans Day," but you don't need to get all grammar Nazi about punctuation. If you fought to protect the First Amendment, you also fought for someone's right to express themselves' incorrectly.
    
    
12. Know that there are different definitions of "veteran," by state law, federal agency, and organizational custom. In active-duty military culture, a "veteran" is often thought of as someone who is no longer in uniformed service. I've heard current service members argue up and down that they are not "veterans." In the National Guard and Reserve, however, a "veteran" may be legally defined as someone who has deployed overseas for a period longer than 6 months. Yes, they get a DD-214. (Former guard and reserve members who have retired from the military, usually after 20 or more years of service, are also labeled veterans, regardless of overseas deployment.)
    
    
13. Don't ask to see someone's DD-214.
    
    
14. Don't ask to see someone's military ID.
    
    
15. Basically, don't be a dick.
    
    
16. Veteran Outrage Syndrome is real. Know the signs, in yourself and in others.
    
    
17. Don't be anti-social on social media.
    
    
18. If you suspect that someone is wearing a uniform in public inappropriately, perhaps to collect on the offer of a free hero sandwich or falafel, take a knee and a deep breath and a big swig of water. Count to ten. If you still feel the need to make a citizen's correction, do so discretely and without making a scene. Don't threaten to call the police. Don't make physical contact. Don't engage in verbal abuse, public shaming, or witch-burning. You're better than that. We're all better than that. If we're not, the terrorists win.
    
    
19. Most important: Perform your buddy checks and maintenance before, during, and after Veterans Day operations. Not all who wander are lost. Not all who served are broken. But it never hurts to ask if someone is doing OK.
    

Let's Not Joke About Ebulla

This past weekend, U.S. military officials announced that the 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division headquarters, along with hundreds of other National Guard and Army Reserve units from across the nation, were no longer slated to deploy to the West African nation of Liberia this spring. This essay was written prior to that announcement.

Sgt. 1st Class Katz is preparing to go to Africa. It'll be her fourth deployment. The Minnesota National Guard's 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division headquarters has been alerted for the Ebola-response mission to Liberia. The mission is called "Operation United Assistance." I tell her it'll be a good mission—a good story. She tells me something she remembers me saying once, regarding going to Afghanistan with the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (2-34th BCT).

"You said something about how everything kind of fell into place, for both you and the unit," she says. "How the Red Bull boasted the longest-deployed units to Iraq ... the largest deployment of Iowans since World War II ... one of only three National Guard brigades to own battle space in Afghanistan ... This might be the only time anyone would ever see something like this."

In typical sentiment, Katz says she doesn't want to go, but also that she wants to go. I understand the push-pull, topsy-turvy, mixed feelings about pending deployments. It's heady stuff, being called up to help change the world. Citizen-soldiers get to see history in the making. It's also a burden, however. Family and friends worry. Life and job get interrupted. Embrace the suck.

"Still," I remember my father saying once or twice, "it has a certain appeal ..."

I remember Papa Sherpa coming off a U.S. Air Force Reserve rotation to Operation Desert Shield. Soon after, he put in his retirement papers. He had started his active-duty military career during the Vietnam War, as a navigator on a C-130 Hercules, flying tactical airlift missions. After a variety of other platforms and missions, he ended his career in the same way.

After his paperwork had already been filed, however, the military mission to Somalia popped up. At the time, I was relatively new to the service, and was wearing Army greens. Off at months of Army training, I'd missed the war in Kuwait. That was on my mind when I asked Dad if he regretted putting in his papers, and potentially watching his former colleagues lift off without him. "You know," he said, "this might have been one to miss ..."

"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again." The same Army officer who once tagged me with the "Sherpa" nickname was the one who recommended that I watch the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, while we were both deployed to a peacekeeping mission to the Sinai Peninsula. From that science-fiction program, I first learned the mantra of the eternal return: "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."

Of all the lessons I learned in the Army, that phrase explains the most.

After I graduated, I swore that I'd never come back to Iowa, but I did. I returned to Iowa after Army communications school, and joined the Iowa Army National Guard. I worked a couple of community and metro newspaper jobs, and made the jump to trade magazines by the mid-1990s.

My first editorship? I kid you not: It was a trade magazine for managers of corporate, hospitality, healthcare, institutional facilities and campuses. The now-defunct publication was was called—again, I am not making this up—"Maintenance Executive."

How's that for high-falutin'?

My interest in writing about best-practices and lessons-learned stems from that experience. Twenty years ago, I was writing about the threats of Ebola, as well as other emergent diseases, on behalf of those professionals most likely to clean it up. In one memorable columnist's portrait, I was photographed wearing a suit and tie and my M17A2 protective mask. I'd borrowed the latter from my locker at the National Guard armory.

For magazine cover-story, I interviewed Richard Preston, author of the non-fiction book "The Hot Zone." Preston tells stories of three strains of Ebola, each named after the place of its discovery: Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, and Ebola Reston (Va.). My family and friends took to naming the seasonal flu after the person who'd first discovered it: Ebola Jeff, Ebola Scott, Ebola Sherpa ...

Hilarious, no? I kill me.

So, Katz is off to war again. And Ebola doesn't look like as much of a joke as it was when I was young and immortal. But the Red Bull is, once again, present at the fulcrum of history. People like Katz don't want to go, but they don't want to stay at home, either. This will be the first time I'll see a Red Bull friend of mine move out smartly, post-Afghanistan.

It's not a war, but neither is it business as usual. The Red Bull is again on the attack.

Two thoughts haunt my hours:

"This one might have been one to miss."

"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."

Book Review: 'If You're Reading This'

'If You're Reading This' by Trent Reedy

Former teacher and Iowa Army National Guard soldier Trent Reedy deployed to Afghanistan in 2004-2005. Trained as a combat engineer, Reedy and his fellow soldiers found themselves providing security for small outposts then still under development. During his time overseas, he encountered a local girl with a birth defect, whose story would later become the foundation for Reedy's first young-adult novel, "Words in the Dust," published in 2011.

With the soon-to-be-released "If You're Reading This," Reedy revisits his time in uniform with the fictional story of Michael Wilson, the high-school-aged son of an Iowa citizen-soldier killed 10 years earlier in Afghanistan.

Growing up in Riverside, Iowa, Wilson attempts to navigate his mother's overprotectiveness, his desire to play football, and his friendship with an art-loving Muslim girl. Along the way, Wilson begins to hear from his dead father, via a series of letters and videos the soldier had prepared while downrange. (An Army buddy anonymously carries out instructions to send the letters before the teenager's 16th birthday.) Through those messages, Wilson's father offers burst transmissions of advice, family history, and encouragement to execute a few life-changing "missions."

The mix of sports and war themes will build bridges to avid readers of each genre, while Wilson's struggle to better understand his friends and family will appeal to those who like psychological mysteries. The narrative connects briefly to Reedy's previous book about Afghanistan, "Words in the Dust," but each work stands on its own. Midwesterners will appreciate the clear-eyed depiction of life in a 21st century small town—places where people still come back home to coach football, where people still remember you from high school, and where people keep secrets while also watching out for each other. Yes, Virginia, there is a place called Iowa.

Most of all, Reedy's plainspoken realism will resonate with those who have served in uniform, those who have had a family member serve, and those who may serve in the future. The lessons are present, but never preachy. The language is accessible and conversational—just like hundreds of such letters written by real-life parents downrange. Wilson's father writes in one letter:

Some nights Ortiz and me and some of the guys get together to smoke cheap cigars and talk about life, politics, women, the war, and everything. We call this group the Gentlemen's Smoking Club. The GSC were talking on our first night in Farah, and we were all feeling kind of down. There we were, on this base that wasn't even close to finished. We don't have many guys, we have few weapons, and we don't even have tactical vehicles yet.

So I said to the guys, "Look. We're the Army National Guard. Some of our equipment, like our radios and rifles, may not be the newest and best, but we still get the job done. Out here in the middle of nowhwere, we've had to figure out how to handle things on our own, like cowboys out on the range. We might not always be completely sure how to solve a problem or carry out a mission, but we do it anyway. It's the Cowboy Way." [p. 112]

Reedy dedicates the book to the memory of Sgt. Seth Garceau, 27, of Oelwein, Iowa. Deployed to Iraq as part of Alpha Company, 224th Engineer Battalion, Iowa Army National Guard, Garceau died March 4, 2005 in Landstuhl, Germany, following a Feb. 27 Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) attack on his vehicle in the vicinity of Ramadi. Through his characters, Reedy notes that the Army Engineer branch motto is "Essayons"—French for "let us try."

Also notable, Reedy sought out permission to have the shoulder patch of the 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division appear on the book jacket—the patch that the fictional Sgt. Wilson, like the author himself, wore in Afghanistan.

In short, there are a lot of wholesome, whole-hearted values here, in a world that sometimes seems to be in dire need of some. "If You're Reading This" invites young readers to engage hard questions, not only about who they are and who they want to be, but regarding service to family, country, and community.

"I want 'If You're Reading This' to honor the service of those soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and around the world," Reedy writes in an e-mail interview with the Red Bull Rising blog. "I hope my novel honors their mission. We now have an entire generation of young people for whom there is no memory of the United States not being at war. The de facto state of their existence is that there have always been American soldiers deployed to a war in a distant country [...]"

Reedy continues, "While so many people rightfully thank soldiers for their service, we must also respect the sacrifice of our young people who have done a lot of growing up with their loved ones deployed. This generation of young people has had to sacrifice a lot for our wars, and I believe they deserve to know why. I hope 'If You're Reading This' can serve as part of that explanation."

Essayons.

What Do You Call a Group of 'Blue Falcons'?

Doctrine Man!!

An off-handed remark last week on the Red Bull Rising blog generated some equally snarky results. In a status report on The Blue Falcon Review, an online journal of military fiction published by Military Experience & the Arts, we'd speculated about the apparent need for a creative collective term for more than one "Blue Falcon."

Given that the term is rather rude slang for a soldier who takes advantage of his or her buddies, calling such a group a "flock" of Blue Falcons seems a little ... less than appropriately colorful.

There are in the English language, after all, special collective nouns for specific types of animals. A "murder" of crows is one example. A "gaggle" of geese is another. The tradition of "nouns of Venery," according to Wikipedia (which is about as deep as we intend to research this sort of thing), stems from English and French hunting customs in the late Middle Ages.

As G.I. Joe used to say: "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle."

Here's an abridged list of possible collective nouns for Blue Falcons, as suggested by some of our usual "chatter" of Facebook friends and blog colleagues. Keep in mind, these are only the (relatively) family-friendly ones.

• A "Sinclair" of Blue Falcons [added March 21!]

• A "cluster" of Blue Falcons [added March 19!]

• A "congress" of Blue Falcons [added March 19!]

• A "cast" of Blue Falcons

• A "coup" of Blue Falcons

• A "screw" of Blue Falcons

• A "line-up" of Blue Falcons

• A "cackle" of Blue Falcons

• A "frack" of Blue Falcons

• A "jerk" of Blue Falcons

• A "plug" of Blue Falcons

• A "murder" of Blue Falcons

• A "malice" of Blue Falcons

• An "avarice" of Blue Falcons

• A "sphincter" of Blue Falcons

• A "sh--bag" of Blue Falcons

• A "Santorum" of Blue Falcons

The Blue Falcon Review, by the way, continues to gather submissions for its second volume of fiction written by military veterans and service members here. They're good people, whatever what you call them. The next volume is slated to be published in November.

Also, you can purchase Doctrine Man!! cartoon-character "Blue Falcon" stickers and coffee mugs at his "Lair of Mystery" store. Be a buddy, and buy some!

Your Pre-Veterans Day Weekend Safety Brief

Listen up, veterans! You don't like listening to them, and I don't like giving them. But we've got a long weekend coming up, and you know the drill. Besides, it's not like it's supposed to a big party like St. Patrick's Day or Carnival, for criminey's sake! It's Veterans Day: Keep your pants on and your $#@! together!

Here's a packing-list of some suggested tips, tools, and techniques. As always, take what you need, leave the rest:

1. Don't be an "angry vet." If someone randomly thanks you for your service, or welcomes you home, say "thank you"—even if you don't feel like it, even if you're "not a hero," even if you were just doing your job and happy to take the paycheck. If nothing else, say "thank you" on behalf of your buddies—particularly the ones who aren't there to take the praise themselves. You know who they are. You know where they are. Be humbled that someone in this allegedly grateful nation still gives a @#$!.

2. Avoid initiating unnecessary friendly-fire missions. If you see some rag-bag who's wearing a uniform that looks like soup—so that he can get a free sandwich or cookie, no doubt—use good judgment before you engage him. In fact, maybe you don't need to confront him at all. He might just be legit. He might be homeless. He might be mentally ill. Everybody has their own war. Don't make others' any worse.

3. Don't assume that women aren't veterans, too. You know better.

4. Dine responsibly. You don't have to take every deal and discount. Think hard about accepting gratitude, particularly when it comes from faceless corporations. Don't reward people who pencil-whip their patriotism. Freedom isn't free, and neither is lunch. Bonus tip: Remember to tip your waitstaff, regardless of how much money you didn't pay for a meal. After all, they're working on your holiday. Thank them for their service.

5. Don't get into any bad-humored urination competitions. That includes jags and jihads such as "pogues vs grunts," "geeks vs. jocks," and "whose deployment sucked more." You know better.

6. Look for teachable targets of opportunity. If someone asks you about your service, have a short and courteous answer prepared. If a child asks you why you're wearing a poppy, stop and talk with them. If someone doesn't know the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day, don't make them feel bad when they ask for clarification. Tolerate unnecessary apostrophes. Be polite, be professional: You still represent the tribe, even if you no longer wear the uniform.

7. Check in with a buddy. Back in my day, we didn't have "battle buddies." We had "bunk buddies," until people figured out how stupid that sounded. Having a "battle" or "Boot Camp Friends Forever" or whatever doesn't sound much better. Now, I don't care what you call them, but it's time we start a new tradition: That guy or gal with whom you spent the worst and best days of your life downrange? Call them this weekend. Do a radio-check. See how they're doing. Compare notes. Count your mutual blessings, wounds, or remaining ammunition. Ask if they need anything, and if you can help. Most of all, however, tell them thanks. Because, coming from you, that still means something.

Places Downrange Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Unless you're regularly danger-close to bad guys and mortar rounds, life downrange is like a combination of high-school and medium-security prison. People make jokes about getting institutionalized: Wake, chow, work, gym, sleep, wash, rinse, repeat.

As with any game that half-mental, people quickly start devising their own mental-wellness strategies. Some people hit the weight rooms twice a day. Some people fall pray (you heard me) to magical thinking: "If we wave this ladle over the convoy, we won't get hit." Still others take up one the few vices they still have available, such video games or fine cigars, and pursue it to passionate excess.

One soldier's war zone, after all, is another's designated smoking area.

On my own 2003 deployment, with the Iowa Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment (1-133rd Inf.), we gathered together to drink with the representatives of our allied nations on so-called "Whiskey Wednesdays." (General Order No. 1 was decidedly not in effect—as we liked to say, we were on a ... diplomatic mission.) The evenings started in a back-patio area of one of our decades-old temporary trailers. We called it the "Bull Pen," and painted our beloved bovine patch on practically every available surface. Beer lamp went on at 1700 hours, and was doused (soused?) by about 2100.

When a Michigan Army National Guard unit moved in after us, the "Vikings" quickly rechristened the Bull Pen as "Vahalla."

Regardless of the choice of one's poisons, or the name of one's dive, the point is to have an excuse—an excuse to get together, to shuck and jive, and complain and make fun, and pretend that being away from home and blowing stuff up is a normal state of affairs.

When I try to remember my buddies at our happiest, I always return to these ritualized bull-sessions, wearing funny hats and issuing silly proclamations and telling stories that were All True and Really Happened.

I count myself lucky to have revisited that magic during my brief Afghan sojourn in 2011.

Mil-blogger and citizen-soldier-journalist Mike Tomberlin was recently elected president of the "Tiki Hut," as well as the Camp Phoenix Chapter of the Tali-banned Cigar Aficionado Club. He also recently pinned on a Combat Action Badge ("CAB"), taking enough time and Internet-ink to make this punny headline: "Catching a CAB in Afghanistan." While holding court, he wears a custom Alabama Pakol hat.

In a recent blog post, Tobmerlin writes:

[The Tiki Hut] has have provided stress relief, an escape, a pick-me-up and a hideout all in one for many of us here. Friendships have been formed there and camaraderie reigns on any given night. All ranks, a variety of nationalities and a cast of characters count themselves among regulars there.

It is truly a special place. Think about the bar from the T.V. show "Cheers" and put that in a war zone, replacing the booze with cigars.

With a little help from the creator of the Doctrine Man!! cartoon, I sent a couple of collector "Baghdad Cigar Club" poker chips to Tomberlin last year. The cartoonist was downrange himself at the time, but in Iraq. On his Facebook page earlier this week, Doctrine Man!! put in a tobacco plug for Cigars for Warriors, an outfit that sends care packages to troops downrange.

(Bonus tip: Doctrine Man!! "Blue Falcon," "Bright Idea Fairy," and "Baghdad Cigar Club" mugs are currently 25 percent off at his "Lair of Mystery" Zazzle store. Use code "LOVEMESALE25.")

If you're giving up smoking for Lent—or even if you're not—you can donate any cigars, cigar-related items (cutters, lighters, humidors), or money to the address below. You can also donate via PayPal via the organization's website.

Cigars For Warriors
115 Daisy Street
Inglis, Fla. 34449-9563

From ashes we come, and from ashes we shall return. It's up to us to live and be well in the spaces in between.

Sherpa Sports New MultiCam Gear, Gadget

A longtime Red Bull Rising blog reader recently gifted me with a choice piece of Afghaniswag: A MultiCam-pattern baseball-style cap, featuring the shoulder patch worn by the Iowa National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT). There's also a reference to "Task Force Red Bulls," the organizational nickname by which most of the 3,200 citizen-soldiers who deployed in 2010-2011 were known while in country.

Readers may remember that 2-34th BCT was one of the very first U.S. Army units to be issued uniforms and equipment with the MultiCam camouflage pattern. The Afghanistan-specific design is known as "Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern" (O.C.P.). (The military loves creating new words so much, it embeds acronyms within acronyms.)

Meanwhile, the utility (or lack of utility) of the Army's current Universal Camouflage Pattern (U.C.P.) continues to win hearts, minds, and headlines. Here's hoping that Uncle Sam will come up with something that works as well as MultiCam, and then stick with it.

Manufactured by Tactical Tailor of Tacoma, Wash., my new headgear features an outline of Afghanistan on the back, along with a reference to Operation Enduring Freedom XI, and a slogan: "Stay Red Bull Strong."

The hats were apparently used as premiums for soldiers who signed re-elistment contracts following the 2010-2011 deployment. "You didn't stay in the Army," my citizen-solider-benefactor told me, "but you did make it to Afghanistan. You deserve a hat!"

Coincidentally, when I traveled as civilian media with TF Red Bulls, I wasn't allowed to wear camouflage of any kind.

My new favorite ball cap isn't my first piece of MultiCam equipment, however. During the 2012 holiday season, my go-to-war point-and-shoot camera bit the proverbial dust. A day later, so did my back-up camera. So, just days before Christmas, I mail-ordered a new one, and had it delivered to my undisclosed location.

Less-than-thrilled with the long lag-times and harsh flash I encountered with my previous Olympus-brand equipment, I opted this time for a Nikon COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera.

It's waterproof up to depths of 10 meters, and shockproof from heights up to 5 feet. One feature might have been problematic downrange: The camera has a Global Positioning System (G.P.S.) capability. (Note for future embeds: Turn feature off for OPSEC reasons.)

Like a good U.S. Army Signal Corps alumnus, I had originally planned to purchase a camera that was colored an easy-to-find blaze-orange. Instead, I found the camouflaged one was available for less money.

I shall call it ... "The MultiCam-era!"

Given the rugged nature of my new equipment, it will likely survive most any situation I plan to throw at it. One philosophical question remains, however: If a camouflaged, GPS-capable camera gets dropped in a forest, would anyone be able to find it?

Gift Ideas: Buy Military Writers, For Military Writers

Still wondering what to requisition from Santa for Christmas? You have only 14 days and a wake-up left. Here are some ideas:

A decade of war has finally delivered a few noble attempts at capturing Iraq Freedom in fiction. Last year's "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" was published in paperback earlier this fall. Think of it as a modern update to the themes of military sacrifice and media celebrity you saw in the movie version of "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006).

Iraq veteran Kevin Powers wrote "The Yellow Birds," a fictional tale of two buddies struggling to survive the distance between Basic Training and Al Tafar. The book takes its title from the cadence you probably learned at Boot Camp. Finally, Iraq veteran David Abrams wrote "Fobbit," which is purported to be in the absurdist vein of Catch-22 and M*A*S*H. (A Red Bull Rising review of the latter is forthcoming, but unfortunately not in time for Christmas.)

As noted previously in the Red Bull Rising blog, 2012 was also a great year for anthologies of military fiction, non-fiction, poetry and essay. In addition to mainstays such as The Journal of Military Experience, there was "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors", "Remembrances of Wars Past: A War Veterans Anthology", and "How to Not Tell a War Story." The latter, much like memoirist Dale Keuter's chapter on peacetime service, explores what it means to be a veteran who did not go to war. Or, at least, went to war but returned without stories to tell.

The Veterans Writing Project published its inaugural issue of "O-Dark-Thirty," a literary journal of military fiction, non-fiction, and more. Individual issues are $10; give a year's subscription (5 issues) for $30. Click here for details.

If you want to expand someone's desert-sand horizons beyond the dusty and prosaic, give them "Red Fields," Iraq veteran Jason Poudrier's collection of poetry. Given his occasional cartoon allusions, I'll leave it at that. 'Nuff said.

Speaking of cartoons, a few military-themed comic series are now available as trade paperbacks, including Top Cow's "Think Tank" Vol. 1; Image Comics' "The Activity" Vol. 1; and the now-defunct series "Men of War" Vol. 1 from DC Comics.

Red Bull Rising readers will remember my penchant for pithy and punchy military epigrams. I'm pleased to report that Howard Tayler has delivered a second set of his "70 Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries" in the form of a 2013 calendar featuring characters from his Schlock Mercenary universe. The calendar comes with a download code, so that you can plaster each month's maxim on your computer. You can also order PDFs alone, so that you can wallpaper your work cubicle, sleeping bay, or Tactical Operations Center. For the 2012 set of maxims Nos. 1-12, click here. For the 2013 set of Nos. 13-24, click here. Remember Maxim No. 13 and the Golden Rule of Firepower: "Do unto others ..."

There's even a Schlock Mercenary board game called "Capital Offensive." Order on or before Dec. 31, 2012, and receive free a $10 set of Tagon's Toughs and Partnership Collective dice! (Click here for details.)

Finally, looking for some stocking stuffers? How about a Doctrine Man!! mug, calendar, coin, or matching Reflective Safety Belt and shower shoes?

Or a CD-ROM full of PowerPoint Ranger goodness that's sure to shake up your next briefing marathon?