Sgt. Atkins with his parents at Fort Drum, 2006. (DoD photo/Katie Lange)
Described as "selfless," "a master of his craft," "the greatest father," and the kind of leader you'd "want to work for," Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins gave his life on June 1, 2007, when he tackled a suicide bomber to protect his soldiers from the blast in Iraq.
On the day before Atkins is to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor, Atkins' battle brothers and family gathered on Tuesday to recount his successes as the father, son, leader, and friend that they knew.
President Donald Trump will posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins at the end of March for his "conspicuous gallantry" in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom by using his own body to protect others from a suicide bomber, the White House announced on Tuesday.
People sometimes assume that the best war stories are fact based. Logic tells us that truth is more authentic than fiction. But Adrian Bonenberger and Brian Castner challenge that assumption in a new anthology of short story fiction, “The Road Ahead: Stories of the Forever War.”
When I first joined the Army in 1990, there were no women at all in infantry units. I only remember seeing them around the brigade headquarters in the late 90s. But since 2001, I have served with, led, and been led by women.
The Pentagon needs to study the long-term health effects of exposure to the chemicals inhaled from burn pits at its overseas military bases, the Government Accountability Office says in a report.
The saying “overpaid, oversexed, and over here” may have been true about American GIs during World War II, but today’s military presents itself much differently. Wartime regulations all but forbid sex in combat zones.
