In Gratitude

Thank You for Being Part of our Tribe!

U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John M. Paxton, right, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, serves Thanksgiving dinner to Marines and coalition forces at Camp Bastion, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2013. (Sgt Tammy K. Hineline)

Howdy,

I hope you’re having a wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends and family. If you don’t have friends or family to spend time with, treat yourself to something nice. That’s what I’m going to do this Thanksgiving: I’m going to stay at a very nice hotel in downtown Dallas and just relax.

It’s been a great, rough year. I retired from the United States Air Force and interned as a Military Affairs Fellow at

The Bulwark

. Then, I became a contributor to both the Long War Journal and Generation Jihad.

More importantly, my BFF

Kate Kovarovic

and I co-founded

Grumpy Combat Veteran + Friends

and started our flagship podcast, Shoulder to Shoulder: Untold Stories From a Forgotten War. We even launched a wildly successful Moral Injury Support Group with our friends from Give an Hour. That program will be replicated next year for Afghan case managers, who’ve been working 3+ years to uphold our promises to our Afghan allies. There are thousands of American volunteers working around the clock, like we did with Ahmadullah, to relocate our trusted and verified Afghan allies to their new homes….until their home country is liberated from an oppressive gender apartheid regime.

Despite the successes, there have been tragedies. The Afghan refugees who work here still endure the unimaginable stress of supporting their families behind enemy lines. I was involuntarily admitted to a state mental hospital, resulting in a divorce, which is a traumatic event in and of itself. For many of us, Trump’s pending ascendancy to power fills us full of anxiety.

I get it. Life is never easy, I’m afraid. There are always setbacks. There are always lessons to be learned.

Nevertheless, despite some setbacks and tragedies, I’m grateful for all we—Zmoong Andiwalaan (our people)—have accomplished.

It’s important to list them all out:

1. We successfully provided part-time employment for 5 Afghan refugees.

2. We regularly publish articles from multiple Afghan girls and even helped one get to the United States.

3. We successfully relocated approximately 50 Afghans this past year.

4. Kate Kovarovic
   and I will attend a ceremony at the Department of State for our efforts to uphold our promises to our Afghan allies.

5. Abdul Rahman Rahmani
   is going to join the United States Air Force, inshallah.

6. Our work has been recognized by USA Today and the Associated Press.

7. We now have 1300+ free subscribers and 150 paid subscribers. Nearly 11.5% of our subscribers are paid, a very high conversion rate, considering most of our articles are free. Moreover, over the last month, nearly a 25% of our new subscribers have been paid.

8. We’ve had multiple Afghan brothers and sisters receive their green cards!

9. We’ve interviewed Gold Star mothers, Vietnam veterans, and Afghan generals on our podcasts.

10. We’ve become a community.

In conclusion, thank you for all you do to support us and our mission of bridging the civil-military gap by creating accessible content for all Americans. It’s imperative that those affected by war—veterans, refugees, and family members—have an outlet to share their stories.

And we’re honored to have you along for the ride.

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at

Grumpy Combat Veteran + Friends

! We’re so thankful for your support!