The Tree of Valor

09/05/2026

Hard truth: a lot of people quietly hope you fail. Not always out of pure malice.

Sometimes it just makes them feel better about the risks they never took.

Your success can feel like a mirror that shows them what they avoided. When you fall short, it confirms the safer path they chose.

The reaction says more about their own regrets than it does about you. Keep going anyway.

08/17/2026

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey, 34, of Killeen, Texas, killed August 12, 2026, when his AH-64E Apache attack helicopter crashed during a maintenance test flight near Salado, roughly 30 miles southeast of Fort Hood.

Huey’s path to the cockpit wasn’t a straight line. He entered the Army in February 2014 as a motor transport operator, working his way up through the ranks before earning his place as a Chief Warrant Officer and pilot with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, a unit he’d called home since February 2022. A Killeen High School graduate, class of 2011, he was a hometown soldier serving at the post he grew up next to.

The Apache is, by the Army’s own description, the most advanced aerial fighting vehicle in the world, and flying it, even on a routine maintenance test flight, carries real and constant risk. Huey died doing the unglamorous, essential work that keeps every aircraft airworthy and every crew that flies it safe. His commanding general called the loss a tragedy felt throughout the entire formation and community. Killeen ISD said the world is better for having had him in it.

08/09/2026

08/08/2026

Thank you Robert for words that a heart needs.

08/06/2026

A beautifully designed and highly anticipated tribute commemorating the brave veterans of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm is set to officially open to the public on the National Mall this coming October.

The historic National Desert Storm Memorial, uniquely designed as a left hook to mirror the famous military strategy that successfully liberated Kuwait, is currently ninety percent complete. Situated in close proximity to the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial, it features a massive coalition shield alongside a flowing water fountain symbolizing powerful international cooperation and unity.

The persistent grassroots effort to build this monument began back in 2010 when former Marine infantry reservist Scott Stump realized that Gulf War service members lacked proper public recognition. Despite facing years of challenging site selection disputes in Washington, the association eventually secured a premier location that is expected to attract up to six million visitors each year.

This forty million dollar project was heavily supported by the State of Kuwait, which generously donated twenty five million dollars to honor the alliance. The site beautifully commemorates the rare historical accomplishment where dozens of diverse nations stood united.