Individuals coming from all walks of life, cultures, backgrounds, and experiences make up the U.S.’ uniformed fighting force, which is always under pressure – – externally and internally. It represents an ideal. It’s highly structured, appears cohesive and sets an example for the nation and for the world. How do MANY become ONE without losing ONESELF? How do we unite in service and still keep our personhood? This question was asked by the Museum of the American Military Family and its Veteran•Family•Community Collaborative. Using an anonymous survey and through written essays, the museum curated stories from hundreds of people asking them to answer a series of questions looking at their service through the lenses of GRAICE: Gender, Religion, rAce, Identity, Culture and Ethnicity. This book is the result. The museum’s two Writers-in-Residences, Valarie Bonham Moon and Connie Kinsey wrote a series of essays using single word prompts exploring topics like diversity, faith, conflict and bias. Almost two dozen other military connected authors wrote essays on the same topics. Bookends—from different generations and perspectives.