Marie-Rose Sheinerman

Sign up for our newsletter about national security here.
Even before his son was in high school, Mylo Simmons told me, there was something about flying that fascinated him. Some days, Simmons and his son, Tyler, would sit in the car together, pulled over on a street with a clear view of an airport runway, watching planes take off and land. Tyler was “looking up at the sky all the time,” his father said. “He wanted to be up there.

The name Stanley McChrystal might bring a few things to mind: the U.S. Army general who led NATO forces in Afghanistan; a legendary Special Forces operator; a decorated military career cut short by reported tactless remarks about a vice president; a daily food intake of just one meal—a “reward” dinner after a hard day. One thing that might not come to mind: a Dolly Parton fan.