Op-Eds & Articles By Ryan McDermott

The commentary below expands on the themes explored in Downriver: Memoir of a Warrior Poet—combat leadership, PTSD, veteran reintegration, military family resilience, and the legacy of the Iraq War. These op-eds draw from firsthand experience at Objective Peach, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the challenges veterans face returning home.

If you’re interested in modern war, national security, mental health, or military history, the articles linked here offer deeper context and ongoing reflections connected to the memoir.

Explore the published op-eds below.

RealClearPolitics: PTSD Isn’t Just a Veterans Problem

(June 23, 2025)

We honor strength. But sometimes, survival means allowing ourselves to break—and learning how to rebuild.

The Hill: This Father’s Day, remember the invisible weight that many dads carry

(June 15, 2025)

We honor the sacrifices dads make — their hard work, protective instincts, quiet love. But for many fathers, especially those who’ve served in uniform or carried other unseen burdens, the greatest gift might be something simple but rare: a moment of real understanding.

AG: Why America Still Needs Warrior Poets

(June 27, 2025)

America doesn’t just need warriors or poets—we need warrior poets: men and women with the courage to fight and the wisdom to feel, lead, and heal.

Orlando Sentinel: Facing PTSD requires help of community, lessons of home

(July 3, 2025)

While the spotlight often shines on veterans, it’s important to remember: trauma touches all of us. Whether it’s a soldier returning from war, a parent coping with loss, or a teenager navigating a world that feels increasingly fragile — we all carry invisible wounds.

The Blaze: The soul of the republic still belongs to Washington

(July 4, 2025)

In our time of division and disillusionment, we would do well to reclaim the legacy Washington embodied. Resilience isn’t the denial of pain but rather transformation through it. And the only vision worth holding on to is the one that unites us in building our future as a nation.

AG: The Bridge at Objective Peach: An Overlooked Masterpiece of the Iraq War

(July 26, 2025)

The battle for Objective Peach—a forgotten yet flawless feat of combined arms—opened the road to Baghdad and offers vital lessons for tomorrow’s wars.

Charisma: I Found God In My Children’s Eyes

(July 27, 2025)

We live in a world that celebrates independence, ambition and personal achievement. But those things, as I learned the hard way, can leave you empty if not rooted in something greater.

RealClearHistory: Speed Kills: How We Took Saddam’s Airport Before He Knew We Were Coming

(August 6, 2025)

On April 4, 2003, as the invasion of Iraq reached its critical phase, the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rdInfantry Division, seized Saddam International Airport–codenamed Objective Lions–on the western outskirts of Baghdad. The operation marked one of the most decisive conventional victories of the war.

RealClearHistory: How Best to Honor Our Veterans

(November 7, 2025)

Few veterans have helped us feel that cost more clearly than Wilfred Owen. A British infantry officer killed a week before the armistice, he wrote in the wet cold—wire snagging wool, mud swallowing boots, thunder that never rolled away. His poems don’t condescend. They witness.

PJ Media: From the Battlefield to the Trading Floor: What Veteran Reintegration Really Means

(November 11, 2025)

Reintegration programs discuss jobs, housing, and benefits. Those matter. But the harder challenge is cultural: I left a world of shared mission and returned to one of individual metrics and shifting purpose.

The Blaze: The families behind our veterans deserve more than once-a-year thanks

(November 27, 2025)

Service doesn’t end when a soldier comes home. It shifts onto spouses, children, and parents who keep life moving while navigating the aftershocks of war.

RealClearHistory: What Pearl Harbor Vets Taught the Iraq War Generation

(December 5, 2025)

On December 7, 1941, Americans awoke to a quiet Sunday that would end in war. Sixty years later, on another unremarkable morning, I walked into my unit to sign in.

Op-Eds & Articles By Ryan McDermott

We honor strength. But sometimes, survival means allowing ourselves to break—and learning how to rebuild.

We honor the sacrifices dads make — their hard work, protective instincts, quiet love. But for many fathers, especially those who’ve served in uniform or carried other unseen burdens, the greatest gift might be something simple but rare: a moment of real understanding.

America doesn’t just need warriors or poets—we need warrior poets: men and women with the courage to fight and the wisdom to feel, lead, and heal.

While the spotlight often shines on veterans, it’s important to remember: trauma touches all of us. Whether it’s a soldier returning from war, a parent coping with loss, or a teenager navigating a world that feels increasingly fragile — we all carry invisible wounds.

In our time of division and disillusionment, we would do well to reclaim the legacy Washington embodied. Resilience isn’t the denial of pain but rather transformation through it. And the only vision worth holding on to is the one that unites us in building our future as a nation.

The battle for Objective Peach—a forgotten yet flawless feat of combined arms—opened the road to Baghdad and offers vital lessons for tomorrow’s wars.

We live in a world that celebrates independence, ambition and personal achievement. But those things, as I learned the hard way, can leave you empty if not rooted in something greater.

Few veterans have helped us feel that cost more clearly than Wilfred Owen. A British infantry officer killed a week before the armistice, he wrote in the wet cold—wire snagging wool, mud swallowing boots, thunder that never rolled away. His poems don’t condescend. They witness.

Reintegration programs discuss jobs, housing, and benefits. Those matter. But the harder challenge is cultural: I left a world of shared mission and returned to one of individual metrics and shifting purpose.

Service doesn’t end when a soldier comes home. It shifts onto spouses, children, and parents who keep life moving while navigating the aftershocks of war.

On December 7, 1941, Americans awoke to a quiet Sunday that would end in war. Sixty years later, on another unremarkable morning, I walked into my unit to sign in.

Ryan P. McDermott