I knew that at least a few of the stars I saw were probably gone already, collapsed into nothing. I felt like I was looking at a lie. But I didn't mi….

It's not just: you get off the plane, you're back home, everything's fine. Maybe the physical danger ends, but soldiers are still deeply at risk of b….

The details of the world in which we live are always secondary to the fact that we must live in them..

I understand that it's incredibly difficult to watch what's happening on the news every day and not become inured to it. I've fallen victim to that m….

Freedom is not the same as lack of accountability..

As human beings, we have the blessing and the curse that we're able to adapt to almost anything. No matter how extreme the circumstances you're in, t….

There is a sharp distinction between what is remembered, what is told and what is true..

There's something immediate about the experience of reading a poem. It makes sense in my own mind, but I'm trying to figure out a way to articulate i….

All pain is the same. Only the details are different..

The war tried to kill us in the spring. As grass greened the plains of Nineveh and the weather warmed, we patrolled the low-slung hills beyond the ci….

I've been writing poems and stories since I was about 13..

To understand the world, one’s place in it, is to be always at the risk of drowning..

Writing was always an aspiration, but I'd kept it a secret even from myself..

Noises and smells, those can bring back powerful memories. I remember when I was going to school one Fourth of July, and there were a lot of firework….

I can't envision an honest war novel that left war in a positive light..

Joining the military is not to be taken lightly. You're putting every part of yourself at risk, not just your body but your moral and spiritual centr….

My personal opinion is that if someone writes honestly about war, it will inherently be anti-war..

I understood that 'The Yellow Birds' would be a peculiar representation of the experience of being at war. I intended it to be so..

I know that the writers I read and admire all have an influence on my work, but trying to determine to what degree any particular piece of input chan….

The world makes liars of us all..

I think a lot of the guys I know and a lot of people I've talked to, what they want is very often what most people want, a kind of simple life, a liv….