TimeNowEncore
@petermolin.bsky.social
Links to all TIme Now: The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in Art, Film, and Literature posts in chronological order from 2012-2024.
I talk about Kevin Powers' The Yellow Birds on the Booked and Banned podcast with host Naomi Mercer. youtu.be/W_RTf0XTJdI?...
Episode 21: The Yellow Birds
YouTube video by Booked andBanned
youtu.be
August 12, 2026 at 6:45 PM
I talk about Kevin Powers' The Yellow Birds on the Booked and Banned podcast with host Naomi Mercer. youtu.be/W_RTf0XTJdI?...
"I’ve migrated social media announcements to Bluesky, but only to post in chronological order links to all my Time Now posts, beginning back in 2012. I’m not sure what I hope to accomplish by doing this...." From June 9, 2025. acolytesofwar.com/2025/06/09/t...
Time Now 2025
I’ve stopped publishing new material on Time Now, but the posts remain available and in fact still attract a fair amount of readers, thank you very much. On the other hand, the Time Now Twitt…
acolytesofwar.com
May 15, 2026 at 1:27 PM
"I’ve migrated social media announcements to Bluesky, but only to post in chronological order links to all my Time Now posts, beginning back in 2012. I’m not sure what I hope to accomplish by doing this...." From June 9, 2025. acolytesofwar.com/2025/06/09/t...
"The audience was upwards of 500 students and faculty, and as I spoke I couldn’t tell how I was faring, but upon conclusion the audience rose and gave me a long standing ovation, which I didn’t see coming and which moved me enormously." From Nov. 23, 2024. acolytesofwar.com/2024/11/23/v...
Veterans Day Speech, 2024
I was invited to give a Veterans Day speech this year at a high school where my friend B___ (also a veteran) teaches. I have never given such a speech before, but I accepted the offer quickly not j…
acolytesofwar.com
May 14, 2026 at 12:36 PM
"The audience was upwards of 500 students and faculty, and as I spoke I couldn’t tell how I was faring, but upon conclusion the audience rose and gave me a long standing ovation, which I didn’t see coming and which moved me enormously." From Nov. 23, 2024. acolytesofwar.com/2024/11/23/v...
From Feb 11, 2024. acolytesofwar.com/2024/02/11/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #12
My February column for The Wrath-Bearing Tree is titled “The Clock Strikes Twelve.” As the title suggests, it is the last of twelve columns I signed on to write beginning in March 2023.…
acolytesofwar.com
May 13, 2026 at 11:54 AM
From Feb 11, 2024. acolytesofwar.com/2024/02/11/s...
From Jan 2, 2024. acolytesofwar.com/2024/01/02/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #11
This month for The Wrath-Bearing Tree, I’ve created a 30-question quiz covering the war-writing scene I’ve followed closely here on Time Now. The quiz is meant to be light-hearted, so h…
acolytesofwar.com
May 12, 2026 at 2:22 AM
From Jan 2, 2024. acolytesofwar.com/2024/01/02/s...
"The two reviews were of books outside the normal scope of Time Now, but I’m flattered the editors sought me out and I enjoyed reading and thinking about the two books’ subjects." From December 24, 2023, acolytesofwar.com/2023/12/24/2...
2023 H-Net and Strategy Bridge Book Reviews
This year, in addition to my monthly Wrath-Bearing Tree column Strike Through the Mask!, I’ve published two book reviews in reputable online sources. For the H-Net “H-War” historians’ book-re…
acolytesofwar.com
May 10, 2026 at 9:31 PM
"The two reviews were of books outside the normal scope of Time Now, but I’m flattered the editors sought me out and I enjoyed reading and thinking about the two books’ subjects." From December 24, 2023, acolytesofwar.com/2023/12/24/2...
From December 5, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/12/05/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #10
This month for The Wrath-Bearing Tree I offer three vignettes drawn from soldier and Marine memoirs about fighting in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan and Fallujah in Iraq. The three vignettes ar…
acolytesofwar.com
May 9, 2026 at 12:39 PM
From December 5, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/12/05/s...
From Nov 8, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/11/08/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #9
This month for The Wrath-Bearing Tree my column is called Fallujah-Korengal/Korengal-Fallujah. In it, I explore how books and movies about the two GWOT battlegrounds mentioned in the title don̵…
acolytesofwar.com
May 8, 2026 at 7:02 PM
From Nov 8, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/11/08/s...
From October 6, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/10/06/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #8
This month for The Wrath-Bearing Tree I write on two memoirs by service members who served in the same region of Afghanistan I did and at the same time. Between them, they describe my tour in very …
acolytesofwar.com
May 7, 2026 at 12:21 PM
From October 6, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/10/06/s...
From Sep 5, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/09/05/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #7
This month my column for The Wrath-Bearing Tree is subtitled “Arlington Interment.” It is about the burial of Army major Ian Fishback in Arlington Memorial Cemetery. You can read it her…
acolytesofwar.com
May 6, 2026 at 12:25 PM
From Sep 5, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/09/05/s...
From August 11, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/08/11/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #6
This month for The Wrath-Bearing Tree I’ve written on a subject in which I’ve long been interested: the lifespan of public popularity and critical acclaim of newly-published books and movies in the…
acolytesofwar.com
May 5, 2026 at 8:28 PM
From August 11, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/08/11/s...
From July 3, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/07/03/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #5
This month for Wrath-Bearing Tree I’ve conducted interviews with two heroes of the contemporary vet-writing publishing scene: Tracy Crow of MilSpeak Books and Randy Brown of Middle West Press. The…
acolytesofwar.com
May 4, 2026 at 3:44 PM
From July 3, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/07/03/s...
From June 5, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/06/05/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #4
This month for Wrath-Bearing Tree I write about American veterans fighting in Ukraine. The piece was prompted by attendance at a public memorial ceremony honoring former-Marine Peter Reed in Borden…
acolytesofwar.com
May 3, 2026 at 12:55 PM
From June 5, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/06/05/s...
Direct link to Wrath-Bearing Tree column in the replies. From May 1 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/05/01/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #3
This month for The Wrath-Bearing Tree I write about a veterans-writing workshop I led for So Say We All, the San Diego-based writing-and-performance collective. I also have a little something to sa…
acolytesofwar.com
May 2, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Direct link to Wrath-Bearing Tree column in the replies. From May 1 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/05/01/s...
From April 3, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/04/03/s...
Strike Through the Mask! #2
For The Wrath-Bearing Tree April issue, I wrote on Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America’s Misguided Wars (2022), edited by Andrew Bacevich and Daniel A. Sjursen. Check it out …
acolytesofwar.com
May 1, 2026 at 12:36 PM
From April 3, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/04/03/s...
The first of 12 posts linked to articles I published in The Wrath-Bearing Tree online journal. I'll post a link to the actual article in the replies. acolytesofwar.com/2023/03/10/s...
Strike Through The Mask!
For the next 12 months I’ll be writing a monthly column for The Wrath-Bearing Tree online journal. My first post, on Elliot Ackerman’s The Fifth Act and Jamal Jan Kochai’s The Haunting of Haji Hota…
acolytesofwar.com
April 30, 2026 at 1:54 PM
The first of 12 posts linked to articles I published in The Wrath-Bearing Tree online journal. I'll post a link to the actual article in the replies. acolytesofwar.com/2023/03/10/s...
"Whether you are an old friend or we’ve never met, an experienced writer or one just starting out, I’d love to see you there and I promise to make it good for you." From Feb 25, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/02/25/v...
Veterans Writing Workshop, March 22
I’m leading a Zoom writing workshop for veterans and people with veterans in their lives on March 22. The workshop is co-sponsored by the San Diego-based So Say We All spoken-word/performance…
acolytesofwar.com
April 29, 2026 at 3:49 PM
"Whether you are an old friend or we’ve never met, an experienced writer or one just starting out, I’d love to see you there and I promise to make it good for you." From Feb 25, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/02/25/v...
"The books I reviewed are all non-fiction, not the fiction and poetry that Time Now specializes in, but reviewing them sowed some of the seeds that would eventuate in Time Now when I began it a few years later." From January 14, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/01/14/b...
Before Time Now: Military Review Book Reviews, 2001-2009
Between 2001 and 2009, I reviewed five military-themed books for the Military Review, a professional journal associated with the Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As I …
acolytesofwar.com
April 28, 2026 at 6:07 PM
"The books I reviewed are all non-fiction, not the fiction and poetry that Time Now specializes in, but reviewing them sowed some of the seeds that would eventuate in Time Now when I began it a few years later." From January 14, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/01/14/b...
"...evidence that the military was so caught up in over-analyzing the political-military situation at the headquarters level that it had lost sight of the clear focus and directives necessary for winning the war in Afghanistan on the ground..." From Jan 9, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/01/09/m...
Military PowerPoint Storyboards
I was invited to speak as part of a 2023 American Historical Association panel titled “Toward an Illustrated History of a Global War on Terror” because the panel organizer, vet scholar-…
acolytesofwar.com
April 27, 2026 at 1:26 PM
"...evidence that the military was so caught up in over-analyzing the political-military situation at the headquarters level that it had lost sight of the clear focus and directives necessary for winning the war in Afghanistan on the ground..." From Jan 9, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/01/09/m...
"How do we measure quality and achievement? What constitutes a 'beautiful' war painting? Can a war painting be an 'anti-war' painting? How are stock scenes transformed and transcended? Can they be, or should they even try?" From Jan 1, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/01/01/g...
GWOT Soldier Art
The instinct and talent to paint pictures is mysterious to those of us who possess neither. I suppose the inclination and some of the talent is god-given and then is nourished by training and pract…
acolytesofwar.com
April 26, 2026 at 2:07 PM
"How do we measure quality and achievement? What constitutes a 'beautiful' war painting? Can a war painting be an 'anti-war' painting? How are stock scenes transformed and transcended? Can they be, or should they even try?" From Jan 1, 2023. acolytesofwar.com/2023/01/01/g...
"12 Strong aims to split the red-state/blue-state difference: its manly men may be rugged killing machines, but they believe in respecting cultural difference, forging alliances, and handing out lollipops, too." From December 26, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/12/26/w...
War Film: 12 Strong
12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers, an action-war film about the real-life exploits of a Special Forces A-team in northern Afghanistan in 2001, exudes the vibe that it mig…
acolytesofwar.com
April 25, 2026 at 12:20 PM
"12 Strong aims to split the red-state/blue-state difference: its manly men may be rugged killing machines, but they believe in respecting cultural difference, forging alliances, and handing out lollipops, too." From December 26, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/12/26/w...
"Thinking about my interest in war-writing, I began musing about how ChatGPT could aggregate what might be said to be the hive-mind on a subject and give it the force of authoritative expression." From Dec 24, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/12/24/c...
ChatGPT Meets GWOT War-Fiction
ChatGPT, a sophisticated artificial-intelligence text-producing application, launched in November 2022. Immediately, a flurry of reviews and articles appeared, many of them wondering what might be …
acolytesofwar.com
April 24, 2026 at 11:34 AM
"Thinking about my interest in war-writing, I began musing about how ChatGPT could aggregate what might be said to be the hive-mind on a subject and give it the force of authoritative expression." From Dec 24, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/12/24/c...
"Here’s to the authors, to the readers, and most of all to the publishing houses who keep war-and-mil writing alive. More than just alive, really, but expanding and developing." From Nov 26, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/11/26/w...
War Writing 2022
As memories of ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan fade into history, so too slows the pace of narratives that depict fighting men and women in post-9/11 combat action. From what I observe, the l…
acolytesofwar.com
April 23, 2026 at 1:24 PM
"Here’s to the authors, to the readers, and most of all to the publishing houses who keep war-and-mil writing alive. More than just alive, really, but expanding and developing." From Nov 26, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/11/26/w...
"Beyond Their Limits of Longing offers reflections on World War I by a who’s who of prominent contemporary vet-writers, as well as interested civilian-authors and scholars." From Nov 8, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/11/08/b...
Beyond Their Limits of Longing: Today’s War-and-Mil Writers on World War I
Just in time for Veterans Day arrives the vet-mil anthology Beyond Their Limits of Longing: Contemporary Writers and Veterans on the Lingering Stories of World War I. A collection of posts first pu…
acolytesofwar.com
April 22, 2026 at 1:46 PM
"Beyond Their Limits of Longing offers reflections on World War I by a who’s who of prominent contemporary vet-writers, as well as interested civilian-authors and scholars." From Nov 8, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/11/08/b...
"The sense rendered is that Grant was unstoppable and that the Confederate generals and troops he faced were crushed as surely as a boa constrictor squeezes to death its prey." From Nov 5, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/11/05/o...
On Reading Grant’s Memoirs
Prompted by a query from Brian Turner, I began reading Ulysses S. Grant’s Memoirs recently. For a while, we exchanged texts regarding our progress and impressions. The texts dropped off after a whi…
acolytesofwar.com
April 21, 2026 at 1:45 PM
"The sense rendered is that Grant was unstoppable and that the Confederate generals and troops he faced were crushed as surely as a boa constrictor squeezes to death its prey." From Nov 5, 2022. acolytesofwar.com/2022/11/05/o...