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Wow, now I'm ruined. Casualty Assistance Calls Officer, toughest MOS in the Marines.

I remember how knotted I was, forcing myself to go home at the end of the day, afraid to see government license plates in my driveway. My son was a squad leader, first battle of Fallujah.

But to think of having to deliver the news, no, I ain't the beginning of that tough.

God Bless 'em. Semper fi, carry on.........

I can certainly related to being "knotted". Our Marine just returned from his first tour in Iraq and every single time I turned into our street when returning home, I'd strain to see if a government sedan was parked in the driveway. I'm glad that nobody knocked on our door late at night. I would have fainted on the spot.

I started reading the article at lunch but decided the kids in my group wouldn't understand why the old guy was crying. It's very intense but especially so when you have a child in harm's way. If you don't, it's a theoretical worry. You can imagine all you like, but you can't know.

Namsman sends.

"I remember how knotted I was, forcing myself to go home at the end of the day, afraid to see government license plates in my driveway. My son was a squad leader, first battle of Fallujah."

Please thank your son from our family for his service to our country.

When my husband was in Iraq/Kuwait, I had a new baby at home. I was up VERY EARLY (like 4:00AM ) for a feeding one morning. After the baby was feed, I was standing at the sink fixing coffee.
My kitchen sink faced the cul-de-sac in front of our house.
I was groggy and tired, kind of looking outside, but not really paying attention. Just happy the baby had gone back to sleep after the early morning feeding.
As I was standing there, I saw a very dark sedan beginning a slow drive down the cul-de-sac. It took me a few seconds to "see" it.
When it hit me, what it "could be", my knees nearly buckled, and I froze in place.
I stood there trying to just breathe as it slowly drove past our home and back up the street.
I continued to stand there, waiting to see if it would come back, thinking maybe they were looking for our address but had missed it.

It never came back- that was the luckiest day of my life.