Grandfathered: Where War Lingers is a play written by eight veterans and produced by me, a daughter of a career Naval officer. It is the story of four generations living under one roof and how war affects them even after war has ended. The grandfather and patriarch of the family … Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2018 Contact: Leilani Squire, Project Director; (310) 628-3507; contact@returningsoldiersspeak.org VETERANS WRITE A PLAY STAGED READING AND DISCUSSION (NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.) — Returning Soldiers Speak, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, proudly announces the Staged Reading and Discussion of Veterans Write A Play’s final activity for the Humanities … Read More

This was a 20-minute unedited timed writing on a prompt given by another member of a writing group. The writing prompt was “We’ve got your balls in a money clip.” Or something like that. A man gave the prompt, and I wasn’t sure if I could write on that, but this is what came out. – Anonymous

As we take time to remember the military heroes who sacrificed for this country, let us also remember those who served and returned. Some of them came back changed, never to be the same, or never to be what they could have been had they not been sent to war. … Read More

I had played clarinet and sax in the school and Boy Scout bands. The high school was central to a farming community, where memorizing the breeds of cattle, sheep, and pigs was mandatory, and music and art were disdained as worthless pursuits. So, when I attained first chair clarinet and … Read More

Recently, singer/songwriter Jason Moon facilitated a writing workshop and performed at Wellness Works, a resource center focusing on healing the body and soul of veterans and the family members of veterans. Jason was deployed to Iraq and returned home changed, and plunged into despair and isolation until he started to … Read More

I was born on August 21st, 1945 in Havre de Grace, Maryland, 15 days after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and 13 days before Japan surrendered to Allied Forces on September 2nd, ending World War II. My mother told me she had been thinking of naming … Read More

I wish I could live forever—so badly I want to witness the conclusion to our existence on this planet. I want to witness when the last human is sprawled out on the ground, possibly gasping for air, lying in the fetal position, face wrinkled and contorted with a mixture between … Read More

What’s in a first impression? Sometimes nothing. Sometimes everything. We have senses that we don’t often credit—and often ignore—sometimes to our detriment. Have you ever had that “first impulse” that said you ought to do something, and having chosen not to act, discovered the impulse was correct? I know I … Read More