After reading the diaries
hereand
here, I decided to link for you a
story which appeared in the Rocky Mountain News about honoring the fallen soldiers from a very personal veiwpiont: that of the officer who contacts the families of the fallen. I found this story from a link to a
Times photo essay via Crooks & Liars.
I believe that every passenger, on every flight which carries these soldiers, should be told of their cargo prior to taking off. This is part of the true cost of war, this or any other war. And we, as citizens, should know the full consequences of our nation's actions. Maybe then we would truely have a debate and discussion as to whether or not we REALLY should go to war.
They are the troops that nobody wants to see, carrying a message that no military family ever wants to hear.
It begins with a knock at the door.
For the past year, the Rocky Mountain News has followed Maj. Steve Beck as he takes on the most difficult duty of his career: casualty notification. As Beck and his comrades at Buckley Air Force Base keep constant watch over the caskets of the men they never knew, the Marines also comfort the families of the fallen, and choke back tears of their own.
It's all part of a tradition that started in 1775: Never leave a Marine behind.
After the knock on the door, the story has only begun.