Showing results by author "H Jack Dunn" in All Categories

Every story has a beginning — though we don’t always recognize it when we’re standing in it. Before the war stories. Before the headlines. Before the hard lessons that would come to define us — there were just a few young kids, trying to make sense of who they were and what they were meant to be. Big Boys in the Sand is where their story begins. It’s where loyalty was tested, courage was learned the hard way, and where a kid named Jack first started to carry the weight that would follow him the rest of his life.

When a young man finds himself thrown into the world of cowboys, ranch life, and an Arabian stallion named Old Smokey Joe, he discovers that the ride isn’t just about learning to stay in the saddle. It’s about learning to stay the course. Guided by two old hands who know the cowboy way, he comes to see that true strength lies not in conquering, but in respecting. Through moments of silence, connection, and unspoken understanding, Smokey Joe teaches him about humility, courage, and the bond between body and soul.

In the quiet valleys of southern Utah, in 1857, over 120 men, women, and children from Arkansas were brutally murdered by Mormon settlers and their allies. It was one of the darkest chapters in American frontier history—an event that has long remained shrouded in silence, misdirection, and denial. The Mountain Meadows Massacre is more than a historical crime; it is a story of how fear, fanaticism, and blind allegiance to religious authority can lead to devastating consequences. And for far too long, it has been treated as an inconvenient footnote by those who should have faced it head-on.

Big Boys Don’t Cry is a raw, emotionally charged work of fiction drawn from the real-life experiences of those who serve and protect. Told through the eyes of a first responder, it reveals the deep inner struggles faced by men and women in uniform—long after the sirens fade.

I have seen, read, and watched many stories of Anthropomorphism (An-thro-po-morph-ism): which is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. It is often displayed in the telling of stories as if viewed from an inanimate object or animal. I have seen these attributes given to animals and such, but never — myself - experienced a story told from the viewpoint of a motorcycle.