MSI Press Blog

  Here is some reading in honor of Military Appreciation Month. (1) Previous posts about Military Appreciation Month and military topics . (2) A book for those would support disabled military veterans: Helping the Disabled Veteran. Read excerpts HERE . To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount, use code FF25 at  MSI Press webstore . Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to buy for it? (1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it. (2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed. VISIT OUR  WEBSITE  TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES. Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date) Check out  recent issues .     Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book ,  Pinterest ,  Bluesky , and  Instagram .       Interested in publishing with MSI Press ...

  May is National Military Appreciation Month—a time to thank those who serve and have served. For many Americans, it's a reminder of sacrifice, duty, and national pride. For those of us who wore the uniform , it runs much deeper. It’s a time to remember the moments that shaped us—not only the mission, but the camaraderie, the challenges, and the enduring bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood. I served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War era, when women in uniform were few and far between—especially officers. I enlisted but was quickly selected to appear before a Board to be considered for a direct commission. That Board was almost entirely male—mostly captains, a rank I came to see as a tough one: just enough time in to develop a sense of authority but still navigating their own path up or out. There was one woman on the Board. I stood before them visibly pregnant , and that was no small thing. I may well have been the first woman to stay in the military while pregnant, since ...

  All of his children were afraid of my father-in-law. He was stern, gruff, and spoke little. It was not the same with me. Not only was his son (the one I married) very much like him, but my father-in-law and I had the US Army in common. I had joined the Army joined the Army in 1973, at the end of the Vietnam War; my husband failed his physical and remained a dependent throughout my Army career. In 1975, I received a direct commission as an Army officer. This gave my father-in-law and me a common frame of reference for our military service. My father-in-law liked to talk to me about his WWII experiences as a Captain stationed in Alaska because even though I was a Vietnam Era veteran, I understood what those experiences meant to him and mean in general.  At one point, he and my mother-in-law came to California for his birthday, just a couple of years before they both died. They wanted to visit Fort Ord, where he did his basic training, and they wanted to see the house they fir...

  A HERO'S SUICIDE   b y Joanna J. Charnas   This following essay was written in 2017 but has not been previously published.   Earlier this week I learned that one of my former patients killed himself. I’m devastated and can’t stop thinking about him. His name was Ryan Larkin.   Ryan was a Navy SEAL. He completed four tours of duty, two in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as a corpsman. Ryan arrived at the inpatient psychiatry ward of the hospital that employs me four weeks prior to discharging from the Navy, and he remained with us for a month.   While he was in our care, I became concerned about Ryan’s treatment. His attending psychiatrist was a skilled and caring provider, but the other players in the larger mental health system seemed mostly fearful of Ryan. Fear is not an optimal state in which to deliver care. My colleagues repeatedly expressed concern about his opioid use and labeled him “drug seeking.” In 2016 the country had a new awareness of the burge...

  In honor of National Military Appreciation Month, Larry MacDonald shares the following:  I was in the US Navy for four years (1958 - 62), serving as an Interior Communication Technician (IC2) on the Guided-Missile Cruiser USS TOPEKA CLG-8, stationed in Long Beach, California with one cruise to WestPac (Japan). The IC Gang was responsible for showing weekly movies in the mess hall on board.  After selecting and picking up the weekly movie on the Naval Base, we invited the cooks for a preview...they provided food in exchange for watching the movie in the IC Room. The good old days!   Read more posts about the Larry and his books, click  HERE . AWARD FOR RV OOPSIES Kops-Fetherling International Book Award for Sports and Recreation AWARD FOR TRAVELS WITH ELLY American Bookfest Best Books Award Finalist Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to...

  The following story is shared by Fred Craigie, author of the award-winning book,  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living . When my wife and I came into each other’s lives over 50 years ago, she had four living and age-appropriately healthy grandparents. They lived locally when she was growing up and she was blessed to have known them well.   For several years until they began passing away, I was blessed to spend time with them and come to know them, as well. Among them was her paternal grandfather, Charles. Charles had spent much of his adult life around motor vehicles, running a small bus line that failed after the stock market crash, selling trucks in upstate New York during the Depression (often, we understand, to bootleggers, the only people who had money to buy trucks) and selling cars after that. Befitting his professional life, he had an engaging interest in people and a ready smile, coming naturally with total sincerity a...