United States vs. Noor Uthman Muhammed and Other War Stories from Guantanamo (Part 1)

Ten years later, this series revisits my experiences as a prosecutor in one of only a handful of military commission cases that have actually gone to trial.

All information about the case of U.S. vs. Noor Uthman Muhammed is taken from publicly accessible, “open source,” case file documents on the Military Commissions’ website at http://www.mc.mil/. The other views expressed are my own personal opinions and observations, and they are not to be attributed to the Department of Defense, the U.S. …

The Big, Annual Super Bowl Sunday Party

Although this story series contains actual things from the world in which we live, including towns, places, and events, it should be read as a work of fiction. All characters are fictional, not based on any real person, and any resemblance to an actual person is entirely coincidental. The events depicted are entirely the product of my imagination.

The big day had finally arrived. McKinley Buxton III — better known to his good friends as “Mac” — was so excited he could barely contain himself. Mac usually slept until eight on Sunday mornings…

The Lounge Crickets — Chapter 2

Jack Armstrong awakened. It was not yet dawn. Once the dry, scratching, blinking was over and he could actually see, he let his eyes adjust. There was a faint glimmer behind the blinds; the sun would be up soon. He looked at his watch. 0530. There was plenty of time yet.

He carefully pulled off his side of the blankets, put them back in position for his wife, and eased out of bed so as to not wake her. It never worked, but he still made the effort. “Are you going out,” she asked…

When I independently published my first book Document on February 29, 2016, it was seemingly as random as the day on which it was published. (Leap Year). …

There was a time in my life when the memories were fresh, but eventually they began to fade and almost completely disappeared into the subconscious recesses of my mind. It took my father’s passing almost three decades later to bring them back, in an effort to make sense of all those things that I had left behind. After all, it’s undeniably part of the fabric of what I became. To deny it would be a lie. But in confronting the past, I have also been forced to confront the hazardous and ever-changing nature of memory itself.

Empty colosseum

Colossus of…

The question was asked recently. Why did you leave Washington? Because Washington was never home, and I never intended or wanted to return. But circumstances intervened. I tried to set up shop in our family home in Arkansas. It was late 2016, and I had just come off a two-year military mobilization to Washington. My wife wanted me to take a break. So I did, but the “break” entailed publishing a second book and taking a court-appointment to represent a man for the appeal of his federal conviction. So although we call 2017 my sabbatical, it was actually a time…

This is a personal story. These observations are based on things I have witnessed and have happened in my life. My mission here is to tell a story from the perspective of a family and a person that have seen and experienced things the overwhelming majority of football fans have not. People can pay attention or they can ignore it. It’s a free country, and we all have the freedom to think, believe and have any opinion we want. People can consume the products they want to consume.

But I confess I have one other purpose than to just tell…

Chapter 1

Although this story contains things from the world in which we live, it should be read as a work of fiction. All characters are fictional and not based on any actual living person. The events that take place in this story are entirely the product of my imagination.

Jack Armstrong pulled the Jeep Wrangler into the designated parking spot next to the dive bar. The plate on his bright yellow jeep proclaimed him a veteran of the already two-decade-old century’s wars, this one, the so called “Operation Enduring Freedom,” which now after almost twenty years of continuous war…