There are nearly twenty million veterans in the United States. Many have undergone ordeals that most civilians are unable to fathom. Some are also fortunate enough to have experienced stories of hope and renewal. This week, in honor of Veterans Day, we’re sharing some New Yorker pieces from the past two decades about veterans and military service. In “The Oil-Pumping Adventures of Rachael Van Horn,” Ian Frazier profiles an Army Reserves veteran who manages her P.T.S.D. by working in the oil fields of the Oklahoma Panhandle. In “Sophocles’ Message for American Veterans,” Robin Wright considers the lessons that ancient Greek tragedies can offer modern military culture. Peter C. Baker examines a report by the Equal Justice Initiative on the historically unequal treatment of black soldiers who served in the First and Second World Wars, and Sue Halpern explores the use of virtual reality to treat P.T.S.D. for a new generation of veterans. In “A Soldier’s Legacy,” Ben McGrath chronicles the life of a gay Army veteran named Alan Rogers. Finally, in “The Return,” David Finkel examines the complex issues of trauma facing veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. These stories are surprising, moving, and poignant. We hope that you’ll explore them this Sunday.
—David Remnick
After witnessing a bombing in Iraq, the Army Reserves veteran and newspaper columnist decided to work through her P.T.S.D. in the fields of the Panhandle.
The susceptibility of black ex-soldiers to extrajudicial murder and assault has long been recognized by historians.
The Theater of War project, founded in 2008, presents readings of Greek tragedies by Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides to military veterans.
The traumatized veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Using simulation to treat a new generation of traumatized veterans.
Don’t ask, don’t tell, but Alan Rogers was a hero to everyone who knew him.