The Muddy River and the General's Pride

In 2003, a retired Army colonel named Frank sat in a bare church basement in Columbus, Ohio, staring at a circle of metal folding chairs. His wife had left. His career was over. A VA counselor had suggested this recovery group — twelve steps, coffee in Styrofoam cups, fluorescent lights humming overhead. Frank had commanded battalions. He had briefed four-star generals in the Pentagon.…