September, 11th

The sacrifices our warriors make for us.

I graduated college in 2001. I remember that day. Many other people remember that day. It has become an anchor, but maybe not the kind we expected. It was the end of peace, and the modern, at least the US military is concerned. The global war on terror created an operational tempo that was not the same as before that day. That operational tempo has continued for many of our special operations forces. Special operations warriors are asked to do things that no one else can do, and they do them routinely because that's their job.

Most of these warriors enlisted after September 11, 2001. Now, service members with 20 years of service enlisted after they knew they were signing up. This was the end of “summer” and the beginning of a protracted winter for service members compared to the rest of America. Most of us will remember Covid-19 as something that changed the world. For the military, it was September 11.

There are new injuries from this conflict. There are far fewer deaths, maki…