From a Distance

by twilight falling
Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 12:36:23 PM PDT
Three more American service people are dead. Three more families are torn asunder. Three more children will grow up with dim memories of a parent instead of the real thing.

Writing tributes for these soldiers, sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Guardsmen is hard. Every story is different, but every one shares in common the tragedy of a life lost too soon—the life of an exceptional person, with so much potential, who wanted to do the right thing for his or her country, his or her family, his or her future, and who was willing to offer his or her own life to see the right thing done. Doing justice for such people is a daunting task.

The two soldiers and one Marine we remember today—Sgt. Michael E. Tayaotao, PFC Shawn D. Hensel, and Staff Sgt. Alicia A. Birchett—shared something else in common: they all wanted the people of Iraq and the people of the US to enjoy peace, and they died working for that hope