About Me

MY NAME IS THOMAS BRENNAN. I’M THE FOUNDER OF THE WAR HORSE, AN AWARD-WINNING NONPROFIT NEWSROOM REPORTING ON THE HUMAN IMPACT OF MILITARY SERVICE.

I served as a U.S. Marine who fought during the Second Battle of Fallujah and suffered a traumatic brain injury on a foot patrol in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. Throughout my recovery, I wrote publicly about my mental health and moral injury in a series of award-winning reflections for The New York Times. After being medically retired, I pursued investigative reporting and founded The War Horse, a renowned nonprofit newsroom exploring war and its impact -- and through the stories of others, I began my recovery and inspired others to do the same.

I believe that my story is one of overcoming hardship, and helping others to do so, through storytelling, reporting and advocacy. Under my leadership, The War Horse has published groundbreaking reporting, forged partnerships with Ivy League universities and Fortune 50 corporations, and has become a renowned distribution portal considered not just important to the veterans and their families, but vital by prominent journalists and military officials. 

My investigations into government sequestration and sexual exploitation in uniform have resulted in nearly-immediate changes to federal policy and law, and have been highlighted on the front page of The New York Times and Esquire. I matriculated at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and in 2015 and became the recipient of its First Decade Award. I have frequently appeared on international and national news broadcasts to discuss military issues, and have served as a public speaker for numerous military organizations, including the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md. In 2021, I testified to the DOD’s Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, proposing radical changes to federal policy on accountability and transparency.

Throughout my career, I have also held top fellowships in journalism and national security at Columbia University, the Center for a New American Security, and the George W. Bush Institute. During that time, my feature writing and investigative reporting have been recognized by the Society for Features Journalism and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and have earned two Fourth Estate Awards, three Edward R. Murrow Awards, and the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award. In 2023, I became the first enlisted Marine to be recognized by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation with the Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune Award for Leadership. Past recipients include Sen. John Glenn, Sec. Condoleezza Rice, Sec. James Mattis, and Pres. George H. W. Bush.

I am an advisory board member of Military Veterans in Journalism and maintain memberships to The Society of Features Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the American Society of Magazine Editors.