In this The Daily Beast essay, Elliot Ackerman reflects on missing journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice and the powerful pull that draws some veterans back toward conflict after leaving military service.
The Question Behind Austin Tice’s Disappearance
Tice left Georgetown Law to report from Syria in 2012 and disappeared later that summer. Ackerman considers the question that followed: why would a decorated Marine and promising law student return voluntarily to a war zone?
War Nostalgia and Identity
Drawing on encounters with veterans living and working across Turkey and the Middle East, Ackerman explores how war can become more than an experience. It can become a profession, identity, and source of meaning that civilian life struggles to replace.
The Difficulty of Coming Home
The essay examines PTSD, grief, memory, and the strange melancholy shared by those who grew into adulthood during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For some veterans, proximity to danger can feel more familiar than peace.
The Siren Song of War
Ackerman compares war nostalgia to the Sirens in Homer’s Odyssey, whose song tempted Odysseus with stories of battle and glory. The image captures the danger of longing for an experience that once gave life purpose but can also consume it.