The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture

• Thank You for Your Service Now Hand Over the Back Pay August 11, 2026
  America loves veterans the way casinos love high rollers. There are lights, applause, complimentary coffee, and a powerful institutional interest in making sure the money ultimately travels in the preferred direction. You served your country, wrecked a knee jumping out of government aircraft, developed tinnitus from machinery designed to rearrange geography, and came home with […]
  Tammy Pondsmith
• The Assignment I Didn’t Choose August 11, 2026
  By Joseph William Rucker Jr., MD I did not want to go into the Army, and I sure didn’t choose Walter Reed. In the fall of 1968, with the war in Vietnam at its peak and a college transcript that did me no favors, I did what a lot of young men my age were […]
  Special Guest
• The Wounds That Follow Them Home August 11, 2026
  By Emily Ireland Editor’s note: In-text citations have been removed to align with The Havok Journal’s formatting. Full references remain listed at the end. _______ We have spent decades trying to defeat the psychological consequences of war, yet many Veterans continue to suffer because the deepest wound may not be psychological alone. Dr. Eduardo Duran […]
  Special Guest
• Urbs Aeterna: No City Stands Forever August 10, 2026
  For centuries, Rome called itself Urbs Aeterna—the Eternal City. The phrase was not merely poetic. It reflected a genuine belief that Rome occupied a unique place in history, one beyond the normal rise and fall of nations. Empires might collapse. Dynasties might fade. Entire peoples might disappear into history. But Rome, many believed, would endure […]
  Charles Faint
• The Affirmation I Never Wanted August 10, 2026
  As the night came to an end, we reflected upon the call earlier. Things just did not seem right. The cues often unseen by the inexperienced become redundant to the experienced. It was the praying at an almost inappropriate time. To be on bent knee and clenched hands in the chaos of the situation. That […]
  Jake Smith