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

• The Costume We Wear: Kafka, Identity, and the Illusion of Authenticity in War and Life August 17, 2026
  Franz Kafka is often credited—though perhaps apocryphally—with the observation that “I was ashamed of myself when I realized life was a costume party and I attended with my real face.” While the exact wording is difficult to source definitively in Kafka’s corpus, the sentiment is unmistakably consistent with his body of work. Across The Trial, […]
  Charles Faint
• The Jobs We Know How to Do August 17, 2026
  Yesterday morning, we drove to a jobsite in Texas where our oldest son, Hans, was pumping concrete. He operates a huge pump truck. It has 18 wheels, weighs about 185,000 pounds and has a 57-meter boom on it. He had been working at the site since 2 a.m. to pump a 600-yard concrete slab for […]
  Frank Pauc
• Why? August 17, 2026
  “Bomb kills Iraqi childrengathered around U.S. troops,”was the screaming headlinethat greeted me from bright-colorednewsprint.It seems the Marineswere handing out toysto children who had sufferedduring the fightingand destruction-filled days. A suicide bomberdetonated himselfamidst the crowd of onlookers,ending all merrimenton an Iraqi street that day. I know God has a planand a reason,but sometimes it’s hardto praywhen […]
  Lou Marin
• Adding Up The Losses August 16, 2026
  Every drop of hot water was soothing as they rained down upon my body. I lay on the shower floor, staring as drop after drop slid down the side onto the ground. Each drop became the representation of the passing of time. I lay there, physically exhausted, and mentally attentive. Why I was there seemed unknown. I […]
  Jake Smith
• Afghanistan: The Price of War is a Piece of You August 16, 2026
  By Martin Jones In the graveyard of empires, experiences varied wildly: the year, the unit, the province, the problem, the strategy, and the mission. Exposure was limited for some, extensive for others, and many fell in between. Your experience may have been deeply intimate or alarmingly impersonal. Across the spectrum of possibilities and proven throughout […]
  Special Guest