This essay bears little preface.  In it, Maj. Gen. William Troy speaks about military funerals.  The army requires a general officer to attend the funeral of everyone who falls in service to country.

I have attended 23 funerals in many different states and, to my surprise, have never encountered an angry parent — only heartbroken ones who are intensely proud of their son or daughter. Grief is the crushing load these parents and spouses bear. Yet far more often than not they treat the military in attendance as family. They invite us to the receptions after the services, where they show us scrapbooks and introduce us to friends. They hug us and wish us a safe return to our units and families. They smile through their tears. I often get the feeling their sense of duty wills them through. I suspect that when the crowds have left and they are allowed to be alone, they collapse in grief and exhaustion.

Happy Memorial Day.

HT: Slate.com