A few years ago I went with Scott and his Civil Air Patrol to Rosecrans Cemetery on Point Loma.
We broke into teams and were given wreaths along with the sites where they were to be placed. The cadets respectfully set each wreath against a headstone, paused, and saluted.
With a wreath in hand, we walked toward the grave of a local soldier who had just been killed in action. People were already there.
Quietly, we approached. I knew.
It was his mother.
She had brought her own wreath. 
Having had a son who also served as a Special Op. Marine, the reality of a flag draped coffin being returned to US soil was always a simmering fear, and one that parents of the 20 fallen soldiers in Nathan’s unit had to face.
The cadets backed away.
I stepped forward.
“I have a son who served. I am so..so sorry for you loss.”
She hugged me tight, as if we had known each other for years, and we both wept.
“Thank you for your service as well,” I told her after a few minutes.
Memorial Day is a time to say “Thank You” to those who have given their lives to the service of our country.
“We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free. ” 
Ronald Reagan
Scott is now serving as a Blackhawk Helicopter mechanic. Currently he is on his way home after being in Korea for a year.
As a mother of a soldier who served in Iraq in the first year of the war I relate so well to that undercurrent of fear that my son would possibly come home in a flag covered coffin. We are blessed that he returned alive yet forever changed. He deals with PTSD but has found meaning in an extension of what he did in the Army(he was a Line Medic) as a Nurse. He laments those he couldn’t save. His second calling was making certain that he was holding the hand of that one who was dying so they weren’t alone. My heart remembers those who gave “that last full measure of devotion” and those who served with them here at home.
What’s up, I check your blogs on a regular basis. Your humoristic style
is awesome, keep up the good work!