When Joe Kintz deployed to Habbaniyah, Iraq, in 2006 as a bomb technician with SEAL Team 5, he took along something unusual: his own tattoo kit.
Author: JOHN ISMAY
‘We Hated What We Were Doing’: Veterans Recall Firebombing Japan
American airmen who took part in the 1945 firebombing missions grapple with the particular horror they witnessed being inflicted on those below.
After Tours in Afghanistan, U.S. Veterans Weigh Peace With the Taliban
The peace agreement has left American veterans with mixed feelings — relief that U.S. forces are coming home and uncertainty about what the deal means for the Afghan people.
A Myth That Won’t Die About a Gulf War Weapon, and Why It Matters
Pentagon leaders have repeated a tall tale about artillery that was used against Iraqi troops during Desert Storm. For the Army, the fiction began right at the very top.
A Reporter’s Search for the Truth About Cluster-Munition Deaths
John Ismay spent five years tracking American service member deaths caused by cluster munitions. This is what got him started on his investigation.
America’s Dark History of Killing Its Own Troops With Cluster Munitions
The weapons are notorious for their effects on civilians. But five years of reporting and hundreds of interviews have revealed they’ve also killed and wounded scores of Americans.
7 Combat Deployments in 6 Years, Then a Bullet Nearly Killed Him
Jeffery Dawson wasn’t supposed to be on the mission that nearly killed him, but the Army’s failure to recruit enough bomb-disposal technicians for his unit meant there was no one else to go.
Wounded by Chemical Weapons in Iraq, Veterans Fight a Lonely Battle for Help
Annette Nellis and three other airmen came forward with health issues years after they were exposed to chemicals during a training exercise. When will the military provide the recognition they were promised?
At War: Why Whales and Dolphins Join the Navy, in Russia and the U.S.
A former Navy officer who is now a New York Times reporter explains how the American military trains marine mammals for underwater operations.
At War: This New Generation of Weapons Could Mean More Covert Airstrikes Around the World
The United States has been dropping munitions on Shabab insurgents in Somalia using a dispenser called the common launch tube, which could enable the Pentagon to turn virtually any aircraft into a high-tech gunship.