First, the veterans in the room stand. Then those related to a veteran. Then those who know one. Then those who work beside one, live near one, pass veterans in grocery aisles and parking lots. By then, the entire room is standing. The Tug of War begins there-in the moment we realize that war is not somewhere else, not someone else, and not finished. It lives among us, like weather we choose not to name. And not just the old kind of war but the new kind too, run by remote drone pilots, code writers, and button-pushers. The Tug of War is not about heroes or villains. It is about responsibility. About attention. About the invisible lines pulling at us long after the shooting stops. 

What would happen if we all gathered and acknowledged those who have carried the weight for the rest of us and what that weight leaves behind? The Tug of War attempts to keep that question alive.

Larry Winters's poetry and narrative nonfiction stand at the crossroads of memoir, moral inquiry, and lived imagination-exploring war, conscience, and our inner life-and can be found at Substack and in community publications and long-form projects. His memoir, "The Making and Unmaking of a Marine: One Man's Struggle for Forgiveness," was published in 2007. A Vietnam combat veteran, Winters spent over twenty-five years as a psychotherapist working with veterans and their families. His clinical training and lived experience shape a literary voice attentive to responsibility, forgiveness, and the human spirit. As a founder of the Veteran-Civilian Dialogues, Winters has led presentations, workshops, and international conversations with clinicians and caregivers, emphasizing that civilians are essential to healing moral injury.