The Drengr Code: Viking Warrior Virtues
Guests from Overseas (1901) by Nicholas Roerich, depicting a Varangian raid. The Drengr Code was a set of principles that guided the behavior of Viking warriors. It emphasized bravery, loyalty,…
John T. Downey: The CIA Officer Who Was America’s Longest Held POW
John T. Downey (left) and Richard Fecteau at CIA headquarters in 2013. November 17, 2024, marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of former CIA officer John Thomas Downey, often…
JFK Special Warfare Museum: A Tribute to Army Special Operations Forces
Soldiers from each of the Army’s seven Special Forces Groups at the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy in November 2011. U.S. Army photo by SFC Jeremy D. Crisp /…
Stand, Even When Standing Feels Like Falling
Stand, Even When Standing Feels Like Falling by Donavon L Riley The prince of the underworld, the devil himself, rises like smoke from the depths, his host of demons swirling…
Something We’ve Forgotten How to Even Hope For
Something We’ve Forgotten How to Even Hope For by Donavon L Riley Jesus Christ did not come to simply ease our burdens or to smooth out the rough edges of…
The Real War Is Not Out There
The Real War Is Not Out There by Donavon L Riley When the battle tightens its grip and the weight feels like it’s crushing your very bones, that’s when you…
The Mad Dance We’ve Known So Long
The Mad Dance We’ve Known So Long by Donavon L Riley Men murder each other for crumpled bits of paper, scraps of currency that we’ve convinced ourselves hold the key…
Odette Hallowes: WW2’s Most Decorated Spy
Odette Marie Léonie Céline Brailly, later known as Odette Churchill, Odette Sansom, and Odette Hallowes, was born on April 28, 1912, in Amiens, France. Her early years were marked by…
The Swans Were Not Saved by Their Cries
The Swans Were Not Saved by Their Cries by Donavon L Riley Freedom, in its abstract form, is a distant god, cold and indifferent. It makes a very stupid god.…
Combatting the Hegelian Dialectic
Combatting the Hegelian Dialectic by Donavon L Riley The pressure to “choose a side” is constant. Our response to politics and cultural events, our religious beliefs, our philosophical principles, our…