Writing

Eleven photographs. That’s all that exists of the Allies’ first-wave assault of Normandy’s beaches on D-Day: the free world’s monumental effort to liberate Western Europe from its Nazi plague. It was the largest amphibious invasion ever conducted, but just 11 blurry black-and-white photos of American soldiers desperately wading through the obstacle-filled surf toward Omaha beach…

Rory Hamill later described it as a moment of clarity. A moment when the image of his children flashed through his mind. Sitting in a Walmart parking lot, the 31-year-old Marine Corps veteran lowered the .40-caliber pistol from his head, disassembled it, and threw the pieces away. Rory, who lost a leg to an improvised…

We’re at 10,188 feet on the mountain when I start to worry. The numbness in my toes has crept into my ankles and is now climbing up my shins toward my knees. My hands are clumsy for lack of blood, and icy water is running down my back and attempting to breach my waistline. I’m…

When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower of the World Trade Center, Rick Rescorla immediately recognized what was happening. Rescorla, the director of security for Morgan Stanley, had survived the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and knew that terrorists were targeting America again. He’d foreseen the possibility of a repeat attack and prepared…

Sept. 11, 2001, was a beautiful Tuesday morning. Blue skies, no humidity. The kind of morning pilots call “severe clear.” Tim Brown was a 17-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department on that fateful day when he and hundreds of other first responders worked to rescue people from unfolding chaos and destruction. As…