Dustin Jones
NPR
A STORY OF YOUTH, HOPE AND LOSS––AND THE MYSTERY OF COVID-19
"The doctors didn't know what to do. Audrey, the incapacitated young woman in the ICU, had just celebrated her 29th birthday. She was physically fit and had been in perfect health. Just six months earlier, she had run a marathon with her twin sister, Kelsey. And Audrey had always been health conscious; she worked as a transplant nurse in Denver. The medical team — nine doctors working in unison with X-ray technicians, phlebotomists and nurses — could not explain why Audrey's heart was failing."
NEW VA PROGRAM INVESTIGATES OUTDOOR THERAPY FOR VETERANS
"Getting into shape traditionally tops many people's lists when it comes to New Year's resolutions. But after a tumultuous past year, focusing on mental health needs is also important. Recently passed legislation aims to help America's military veterans with both. Last month, President Trump signed the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act after it easily passed in Congress in a rare instance of bipartisan support, as part of a package called the Veterans COMPACT Act of 2020."
CITIES AND STATES ARE IMPOSING NEW COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS. EXPERTS SAY IT'S NOT ENOUGH
"Coronavirus cases are surging across the U.S., prompting many state and local leaders to impose new restrictions. But some experts say these efforts may be too little, too late — like a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. The virus is spreading unchecked through communities in nearly every state, and new cases topped 150,000 for the first time on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. is expected to continue breaking records as temperatures drop, bringing people into closer quarters indoors."
The War Horse
YOU DON’T KNOW, AND I DON’T WANNA TELL YA
A few smiles crept out from everyone sitting around us, accompanied by a laugh or two, then an awkward pause. His mother looked down at the table for a moment and then raised her head; our eyes met. We sat in silence for what felt like minutes. “What did you all see over there that would make him do something like this?” she asked. I bowed my head and stared down at the table. I didn’t have a response.
The screams and machine guns are roaring. My heart rate is skyrocketing. My friends are dying. And I can't save them. Others try hard to help by providing aid or returning fire while I fail to engage. Useless.
I chamber another round. Misfire. Misfire. Misfire. Marines continue to die. The screams turn to cries. The ground turns from a dusty brown to a damp crimson.
Additional Writing
THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS
I told him about the first guy that I lost, how he had everything above his jaw-line taken off with an RKG grenade. This is essentially a small parachute-stabilized grenade, that when detonated becomes a shape charge, forcing molten copper and tungsten through an area no more than half an inch in diameter, to tear through the Humvee and through the back of my buddy’s head. Skull fragments splintered off and became shrapnel that wounded the other four Marine passengers. We both sit in what others might consider to be an awkward silence. We sit, drinking our beer, looking into the glass as we fiddle them around with our hands, reliving these events over and over again in our minds. Sometimes it is best to just say nothing.