As I write this, the class of 2020 is marching single-file, social distanced, onto the Plain at West Point where their chairs are set far enough apart per requirement.

There are no families or friends in the stands around the parade field they’ve spent four years sweating and freezing on. I remember doing bayonet drill out there in the sweltering sun in Beast Barracks. Marching in my graduation parade. Also going out there the very first day, hair freshly cut, brain swirling, to sweat my Oath of Office, on my very first day at the Academy.

I don’t have a problem with the cadets being called back. They have to out-process and move on to their branch schools. The fact the president is using them as a prop is the same as him using the bible as a prop; disgusting, but that’s who this president is. He has no honor, no conscience, no thought for another human being other than himself. But for the cadets, this is their duty and they have to do it. Get used to it. They will be required to do much more dangerous things in the near future. Get used to it.

As part of those dangerous things, my first book in the Will Kane, Green Beret series, New York Minute, is free today through the 16th, in anticipation of the publication of the 4th book, Hell of a Town, on Monday the 15th. Kane is a West Point graduate, class of 1966. That was the class most blooded in Vietnam as they graduated into the escalation of the war. 30 members died. Like me, Kane served in the Infantry and Special Forces. The first book is set in 1977; by the fourth, we’ve moved to 1978. A time when there weren’t cell phones or personal computers. When the city appeared ready to go bankrupt and crime was rampant.

Also, Jenny Crusie and I, have revived He Wrote/She Wrote. We’re going through the old blog written over twelve years ago and updating it with what we think now about writing. I know, for me, my process has changed greatly. So you can get an insight into the way we both view various aspects of writing, what we thought, and how we’ve changed. It’s here: He Wrote/She Wrote Again.

Back to survival soon, I promise. Our garden is looking good. The first tomatoes are growing!

The Green Beret Pocket-Sized Survival Guide (same as above, minus the preparation part in order to be smaller in print)

The Green Beret Preparation and Survival Guide. Also in Kindle Unlimited.