Everyone has a story to tell, but in the case of this week’s guest, Phil Klay has the inherent gift of conveying his collection of insights and perspectives in short story form. His writings bring deeper meaning to life as they engage a broad audience. Phil is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and his short story collection Redeployment has won multiple national book awards.

Listen in as he joins Marcus & Morgan to tell of his military and personal life experiences.

• I’ve always believed in public service.

• National service is a standard that everybody should serve in some way.

• When I feel like I’ve almost died, it inspires me to convey that intensity in a novel.

• Throwing in people together, who are different from each other, but all trying to achieve something in the service of the country, would be almost spiritually healthy.

• It’s stupid to climb off trail when there’s no one around.

• When you try to figure out how you feel about something, put it in a story.

• There are some things that need to be communicated. It’s important to communicate that to people.

• The Marine Corps is a very complicated thing.

• I started writing about my experiences, outside of the mold of typical conversation.

• It’s not that our life experiences themselves are very interesting, it’s that you should reflect on them. It forces you to think more deeply about life.

• When you think of your limits, know that there’s a mental component to that.

• If you think you can’t, you can always take another step.