We Are The Mighty

2 days ago | wearethemighty.com | Jessica Evans

“I’m fine” is code. If you’ve ever been in a milspouse group chat longer than a week (or friends with milspouses for longer than a week), you already know the truth. No one who says, “I’m fine,” is actually (ever) fine. Everyone knows it’s never a status update or even a reassurance. Most often, it’s a warning. It’s A Cry For Help. A bat signal disguised as lowercase letters and emotional detachment. You know it’s what we say when we’ve hit that specific milspouse lane of mental unraveling.

5 days ago | wearethemighty.com | Blake Stilwell

Sure, troops getting bitten and envenomated by poisonous snakes isn’t high on the list of things the Department of Defense needs to worry about. It’s probably not even in the top 100, but for the guy in the unit who was bitten by a Saw-Scaled Viper while out on patrol. That particular viper is active at night, very common in Afghanistan, and is responsible for the most deaths by snake bite. It would take about 15 minutes to become one of the biggest issues a troop has out in the field.

6 days ago | wearethemighty.com | Jessica Evans

But just because you knew doesn’t make it any easier. Being prepared doesn’t cancel out the hard parts. There’s a phrase that gets tossed at military spouses like a passive-aggressive grenade—smiling on the outside, condescending on the inside. “You knew what you were signing up for.”Ah, yes. The Greatest Hits of Things No One Asked You to Say, Vol. 1. You’ll hear it everywhere. From a well-meaning aunt who’s never moved out of her hometown. From the comment section on a military spouse support thread.

1 week ago | wearethemighty.com | Jessica Evans

May is National Military Appreciation Month. Even if you’re not connected to the military, now’s a good time to honor the men and women who have served or are currently serving. This includes those who have given their lives for our country. It’s also a time to remember the families of military members, as they, too, make many sacrifices. Every May, Americans celebrate National Military Appreciation Month. But how did this commemoration come to be? When did it start, and why?

2 weeks ago | wearethemighty.com | Miguel Ortiz

On April 29, 1975, communist Vietnamese forces of the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong began a final attack on the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. Nearly 100 aircraft were destroyed on the flight line of Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Just one airworthy aircraft remained: a C-130A Hercules, tail number 56-0518. Realizing that the C-130 was the last way out of the country, Maj. Phuong, a South Vietnamese instructor pilot ordered his crew to prep the aircraft to evacuate civilians.