Quotes June 27, 2025

“We were at war. I wanted to do my part.”
Stephen Kraft, who joined the army at age 28 after 9/11.
 
 
 
 
“I love ‘Joe.’”
U.S. Army captain, to me, explaining why he stayed in the army after several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
 
 
 
“I can at least go out and defend my country and do something honorable as a father. Show my son something good.”
Joshua Hernandez, who joined after 9/11, and deployed to Iraq twice.
 
 
 
 
“I just wanted to do something to support those young people.”
Matthew Niblack, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran who joined the National Guard as a sergeant with an age wavier in his early 50s and deployed to Kuwait.
 
 
 
 
“This is all normal, routine stuff. Dude with the AK that I shot in the street? That’s routine. The dudes digging an IED? That’s an everyday occurrence.”
An Army lieutenant whose platoon I embedded with in Iraq in 2007.
 
 
 
 
“I’d do it all again if I had the chance.”
Zachariah Chitwood, a veteran of the U.S. Army who was wounded in Iraq.