{"id":79608,"date":"2026-03-02T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/02\/when-veterans-take-the-pen-war-stories-start-to-change\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:31:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:31:48","slug":"when-veterans-take-the-pen-war-stories-start-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2026\/03\/02\/when-veterans-take-the-pen-war-stories-start-to-change\/","title":{"rendered":"When veterans take the pen, war stories start to change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hollywood has never lacked war stories. But it has often lacked veteran storytellers telling them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For years, military narratives on screen have gravitated toward spectacle or trauma. Either elite raids and explosions, or the aftermath: PTSD, divorce, isolation. What gets squeezed out is the middle ground \u2014 bureaucracy, boredom and dark humor \u2014 where most service members actually live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three veterans now working in television say that changes when people who have worn the uniform are inside the writers\u2019 room, shaping the story from page one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greg Cope White, a Marine veteran and longtime television writer, built a decades-long career after leaving active duty. His memoir, \u201cThe Pink Marine,\u201d later became the basis for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2025\/10\/09\/netflix-adapts-marines-coming-of-age-memoir-in-new-series-boots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2025\/10\/09\/netflix-adapts-marines-coming-of-age-memoir-in-new-series-boots\/\">Netflix coming-of-age series \u201cBoots,\u201d<\/a> about a closeted gay teenager enlisting in the Marine Corps in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans are often misunderstood in writers\u2019 rooms, White told Military Times in a recent interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the things veterans might fear about going into the writers\u2019 room is that that\u2019s all the experience people are going to want from them,\u201d he said. \u201cJust give me the military stuff and shut up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s not what I have found at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For White, the value of veterans extends far beyond accuracy. \u201cOur worldview is instantly expanded the day we enlisted,\u201d he said. \u201cWe saw things, and we\u2019re exposed to people and situations that a normal college-age student wouldn\u2019t be exposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That exposure influences tone and informs how characters handle pressure. It shapes what feels authentic when a unit fractures or rallies on screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When working on \u201cBoots,\u201d authenticity mattered, but not as trivia. \u201cYou don\u2019t want something like someone in their dress blues with scruff. That\u2019s going to take a lot of people out right there,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1475\" height=\"1065\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Greg.jpg_c55235.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Greg.jpg_c55235.jpg 1475w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Greg.jpg_c55235.jpg?resize=300,217 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Greg.jpg_c55235.jpg?resize=768,555 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Greg.jpg_c55235.jpg?resize=1024,739 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1475px) 100vw, 1475px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marine Corps veteran Greg Cope White&#8217;s memoir served as the basis for the Netflix coming-of-age series &#8220;Boots.&#8221; White, left, is shown here with &#8220;Boots&#8221; actor Miles Heizer. (Courtesy Greg Cope White)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For \u201cBoots\u201d story editor Megan Ferrell Burke, a Marine veteran who served from 2007 to 2011 and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a direct air support officer, authenticity debates often collide with visual storytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hollywood is a visual medium, noted Burke, who, after leaving the Corps, worked her way through assistant roles on \u201cArmy Wives,\u201d served as a writers\u2019 assistant on the World War II drama \u201cManhattan\u201d and was staffed on \u201cOutlander.\u201d Sometimes what is correct is not what reads best on camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In \u201cBoots,\u201d for example, recruits were scripted to sit on their packs during a break, as they would in real life. On set, production placed them on logs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn any sort of universe, recruits would not be sitting on logs and talking,\u201d Burke said. \u201cBut who cares? It\u2019s so much better visually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For her, the issue is not perfection; it is intention. \u201cI\u2019m very okay with being inaccurate,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to know when we\u2019re being inaccurate, and I want to make that choice actively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burke said she braced for backlash from veteran viewers over creative choices in \u201cBoots,\u201d including decisions about timeline accuracy. Instead, she found that many viewers accepted the show\u2019s choices once they understood they were deliberate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over her 15 years in the industry, Burke said she has seen shifts in how military stories are framed. Early portrayals often defaulted to stoic archetypes. Later, she said, many projects focused almost exclusively on trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look out on the landscape and look for the stories of well-adjusted veterans, they\u2019re a little bit harder to come by,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Burke does not dismiss PTSD narratives. \u201cIt is incredibly important to advocate for the very real experiences of service members dealing with trauma,\u201d she said. But she believes the picture is incomplete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI feel like I\u2019m the best version of myself because of the experience that I had,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-110919\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg 3264w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Josh.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1536 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3264px) 100vw, 3264px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Joshua Katz, a Navy veteran, worked as a showrunner\u2019s assistant on the CBS sitcom \u201cUnited States of Al\u201d and later founded Katzmar Tactical Consulting with his spouse, also a Navy veteran. (Courtesy Joshua Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joshua Katz, a Navy veteran who served from 1999 to 2003 as a gunner\u2019s mate and missile technician, entered the industry through multiple avenues, including stunt work, tactical consulting and writers\u2019 room support. He worked as a showrunner\u2019s assistant on the CBS sitcom \u201cUnited States of Al\u201d and later founded Katzmar Tactical Consulting with his spouse, also a Navy veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Katz offered a more direct assessment of Hollywood\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey care about one thing, and that\u2019s making a profit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his experience, veteran status may help secure a meeting, but it does not guarantee advancement. \u201cIt will never be because you\u2019re a veteran,\u201d he said. \u201cIt opens the door, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily push you through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, Katz credited certain showrunners with fostering supportive environments and taking veteran perspectives seriously when storylines demanded it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also pointed to story gaps he believes remain underexplored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou don\u2019t see below decks,\u201d he said of Navy life. \u201cIt\u2019s almost always from an officer\u2019s perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He would like to see more character-driven stories set in military environments without defaulting to combat or scandal. He also cited the VA hospital as a compelling setting where veterans from different eras intersect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across all three writers, humor emerged as a defining difference. Veterans understand that laughter often exists alongside stress, not in spite of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s the only way I can tell my story,\u201d White said of using comedy to frame his experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Humor, he argued, allows audiences unfamiliar with military life to enter the world without being overwhelmed. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more hilarious than that frailty of the human condition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those considering the leap from the uniform to the writers\u2019 room, none of the three offered easy encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is not a career for the faint of heart,\u201d Burke said. \u201cThe good times are great, and the bad times are really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White urged writers to focus on craft. \u201cWrite the story you want to tell,\u201d he said, rather than chasing what seems marketable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Katz emphasized persistence and preparation. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to have the writing sample to go with it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s never going to be just because you\u2019re a veteran.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When veterans become writers, war stories shift. The story moves toward lived ambiguity, and service is not reduced to a single narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The difference is not cosmetic. It is tonal. And audiences, especially those who have served, can tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hollywood has never lacked war stories. But it has often lacked veteran storytellers telling them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-post-observation-post","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,70,26,17,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[4056],"class_list":["post-79608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-culture","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OHVCOQ37QBHMHJZOT67HLJLEXY","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2026\/03\/02\/when-veterans-take-the-pen-war-stories-start-to-change\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"observation-post","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When veterans take the pen, war stories start to change - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Hollywood has never lacked war stories. 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