One of the advantages of being a national journalist of some recognition is that you come across high-profile people, and many become your friends.

Here is a secret that no one has told you: Real life is junior high.

We were not just competitors and colleagues, we were friends. We had a lot of opportunities to reflect on this in the last year. It was a competitive brotherhood.

More and more of the veterans are in wheelchairs and with breathing apparatus, and they've lost a lot of friends in the last couple of years. I see Medal of Honor winners, and more and more of them are infirm.

I believe you make your own luck. My motto is 'It's always a mistake not to go.'

I've lost seven friends to smoking-related lung cancer. Each death was a long, agonizing experience.