by Dr. Jeffrey Horelick | FreedomTalk Magazine, September 2026 page 5
A First Anniversary Memorial
One year after Boone Cutler’s passing, I remember a man whose life cannot be reduced to one title or collaboration. Boone was a United States Army paratrooper, Psychological Operations specialist, broadcaster, author, Warfighter advocate, and Battle Buddy. He took what war and institutional failure had done to him and transformed it into a mission to help others survive.
During his 2005 deployment to Sadr City, Baghdad, Boone served on a four-man PsyOp team where understanding human behavior could be as important as any weapon. That experience became the foundation of his later work in cognitive warfare, strategic communication, and fifth-generation warfare. CallSign Voodoo remains, for me, his most revealing book because it presents that experience in his own voice. His later books with Lieutenant General Michael Flynn extended knowledge Boone had already earned through service, sacrifice, observation, and survival.
The war did not end when Boone returned home. He described his time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with two unforgettable words: Chemical Prisoner. He understood traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, prescription-drug dependency, isolation, and the danger of a Warfighter believing there was no mission left. Through his writing, broadcasting, outreach, and direct advocacy, Boone turned private pain into practical warnings and service.
At the center of his legacy is the Spartan Pledge: “I will not take my own life by my own hand without talking to my Battle Buddy first. My mission is to find a mission to support my Warfighter family.” Boone did not claim to own those words. He considered himself their messenger. The pledge expressed what he believed: speak before surrendering to despair, then find renewed purpose by serving someone else.
I was fortunate to speak with Boone by telephone and later meet him at a General Michael Flynn movie release in Florida. While I spoke with two acquaintances, Boone quietly approached from behind and placed both hands on my shoulders. I turned, recognized him with genuine happiness, and Boone embraced me. He said, “Come, let’s take a walk.” He led me away from the public gathering into a large room filled with empty seats. We sat alone and spoke privately for an extended period. That memory captures Boone as I knew him: warm, direct, generous with his time, and more interested in a genuine human conversation than a public performance. There is no photograph of that moment, but I do not need one to remember it clearly.
Boone should be remembered as a whole man. His collaborations mattered, but they did not create his courage, experience, or independent voice. He had earned those qualities in uniform, in Sadr City, during recovery, behind a microphone, in his books, and in every conversation through which he tried to keep another Warfighter alive. His legacy lives whenever someone calls a Battle Buddy instead of surrendering, whenever a veteran finds a new mission, and whenever a citizen learns to question a narrative and defend his own mind.
Isaiah 6:8 offers the words that best describe Boone’s life: “Here I am. Send me.” He answered that call repeatedly as a soldier, PsyOp operator, author, broadcaster, advocate, and friend. Boone, you are remembered not only for what you endured, but for what you chose to do with it. You spoke when silence would have been easier. You served when you had already sacrificed enough. You reminded Warfighters that they were not alone and that they still had a mission.
Rest in peace, Boone Cutler. Your mission continues.
