My name is Sgt. Brendon O. Smith (USMC, Ret.).

I served. I survived. Then I started writing — not for therapy, but for survival.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve written a trilogy of novella's that expose the truth about combat trauma, suicide, betrayal, and the war waiting at home.

These books aren’t sanitized stories. They’re raw, brutal, and honest. They're written by someone who’s lived it — for the brothers who never came home whole.

I’ve founded Black Cross Publications to publish and protect these stories — and create a space for veterans who’ve been ignored, redacted, or buried in silence.

What I’m Asking For:

I’m raising $3,000 to help fund the launch of this publishing mission, beginning with the release of the first book in the Ex Bello, Lux trilogy:

Book 1: The Anchorhouse Boys

– A gut-punch novel about five Marines struggling under one roof, haunted by what they buried in combat — and what they lost after coming home.

Your Support Will Fund:

✔️ Website + domain for Black Cross Publications

✔️ Print + Kindle production for The Anchorhouse Boys

✔️ Cover design, ISBN, and editing costs

✔️ Initial merch run (Write. Resist. Rebuild. tees + hoodies)

✔️ Press kit + outreach to veteran organizations and media

Why It Matters:

They call what we endured “acceptable losses.”

They call our stories “inconvenient.”

We call it truth — and it deserves to be seen.

These books are dedicated to veterans like Rosales, who took his own life waiting for help that never came.

To Juni, who tried to tell the truth and got erased for it.

And to the real Marines I served with, who carry invisible scars every damn day.

What You’ll Get:

Every supporter is part of this mission.

$10 — Your name in the acknowledgments

$25 — Advance digital copy of The Anchorhouse Boys

$50 — Signed paperback

$100 — Name in the book + signed book + Black Cross merch gift (shirt/patch)

$250+ — Founding Sponsor credit on the website + future books

If You Can’t Donate, Please Share

Every share, repost, and retweet helps spread this story. You never know who needs it.

From war, light.

From silence, fire.

Let’s build something they can’t bury.

– Brendon