Ben, I know a sliver of your history. Only enough to know that what you say comes from a place of authenticity, experience, and truth. But I had shivers for a moment. The kind that happen when you're engaging with someone who knows about things in a special way. This is what veterans share.

First let me say that Karl Marlantes has written some excellent pieces. I also love O'Brien's "In the Lake of the Woods" and "Going After Cacciato."

We come home and our experiences are turned flat so that they lose all dynamics and shape. Like you said it's made into extremes of hero worship or baby killer. Which is just crazy to me.

I like the way you expressed sorrow over situations. This discussion has so many angles and hallways and requires a lot of exploration. There's room inside this discussion for people to meet and explore humanity, talk about the best and worst of humans. Instead, I feel like the topic and veterans are seen as a kind of wild animal. Fun to view at a safe distance. And few people wish to explore the repercussions, on all sides, associated with warfare.

I appreciate you taking the time read, Ben.

-Roman