John Cox

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The American Legion

8 servicemembers in Lincoln strike group attempted suicide on recent deployment | The American Legion

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao disclosed that eight servicemembers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln attempted suicide during a deployment exceeding 200 days of combat operations in the Middle East, contradicting earlier dismissals of mental health concerns by Trump administration officials and military leadership as "dishonest" media reports. The revelation came in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand after Stars and Stripes and other outlets had reported deteriorating conditions aboard the carrier during an extended deployment nearing a post-Vietnam War record, prompting calls for investigation from lawmakers. The Navy emphasized that no actual suicides occurred and that adequate mental health resources were available, while the service announced plans to improve future deployments through increased logistics and quality-of-life measures.

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www.thegreatoutdoorsmag.com

www.independent.co.uk

Tributes paid to six US troops killed in Iran drone strike including mother who was two days away from returning home

This piece profiles the six US Army Reserve soldiers killed when Iran struck a logistics command centre near Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, a day into the joint US-Israel "Operation Epic Fury" campaign against Iran. It centres on personal details from grieving families—Sgt. Amor's near-return home and unprotected relocation, Sgt. Coady's fresh promotion and cybersecurity studies, Capt. Khork's ROTC-driven patriotism, and Sgt. Tietjens' martial arts teaching—giving a human face to the first named American casualties of the escalating conflict.

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Vanity Fair

Michael Lewis: Obama’s Way | Vanity Fair

This wide-ranging profile follows President Obama through his daily routines, decision-making processes, and personal reflections, while interweaving the story of Captain Tyler Stark, a navigator whose F-15 crashed during the Libya intervention on Obama's orders. The piece explores how Obama approaches the presidency—his need for routine and exercise to maintain mental clarity, his basketball games where he plays as an equal rather than a figurehead, his method of staffing meetings to hear dissenting views, and his late-night habit of writing speeches by hand to clarify his own thinking. Paralleling Obama's meditation on intervention in Libya is Stark's survival story in the desert and rescue by Libyan rebels who initially mistook him for a French pilot, illustrating how a president's abstract decision reaches forward into the lives of ordinary people whose fates then circle back to constrain his political options.

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The New Yorker

Three Trials for Murder

In 1985, Tim Hennis was convicted of murdering Katie Eastburn and her two young daughters in North Carolina, but was acquitted at retrial in 1989 after the prosecution's key witness proved unreliable and physical evidence failed to match him. Twenty years later, DNA testing of sperm samples found in the victim's body matched Hennis, leading the Army to recall him from retirement and court-martial him for the murders despite his civilian acquittal—a controversial use of military jurisdiction that raises questions about double jeopardy and whether scientific evidence alone should override a civilian jury's verdict. The case remains under appeal, with Hennis's lawyers arguing the military lacked jurisdiction and legal scholars divided on whether the extraordinary circumstance of exoneration followed by court-martial sets a dangerous precedent.

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The New Yorker

The Mission to Get Osama Bin Laden : The New Yorker

This New Yorker account details the May 1, 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, tracing the operation from its planning stages through execution, focusing on the Navy SEAL Team Six assault on his Abbottabad compound despite significant obstacles. The narrative reveals how a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during insertion due to aerodynamic complications, forcing the SEALs to adapt on the ground, and reconstructs the precise moments when bin Laden was located and killed on the third floor, along with several family members and associates who posed threats. The piece also examines the broader intelligence, political, and military context—including President Obama's decision to authorize the raid over cautious advisers' objections and the operational precedent it set for future unilateral U.S. military actions inside Pakistani territory.

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kottke.org

www.nytimes.com

Log In - The New York Times

After a failed attempt to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" as part of a larger military bill, supporters reintroduced it as a standalone measure, which attracted support from four Republican senators—enough to reach the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced voting could begin as early as Saturday, though Republicans threatened to delay proceedings through amendments or to block other legislation like the New Start treaty in retaliation. The shift to a narrower bill proved strategically effective by putting political pressure on senators who had previously cited procedural concerns to oppose the measure.

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