Jared was a brand new private around the time I was getting out. He was seemingly just a really quite kid at that time. Little could anyone have imagined the American greatness and determination inside. The young kid would grow to simply be one of the best men in the Army. He served about 10 years in the Ranger Regiment as one of its best infantryman. He served in the US Army Marksmanship Unit as of its best shooters. He went on to serve and make the ultimate sacrifice as a Delta Force operator, like I said simply the best.

Dan could have been a professional comedian. One time him and I shared the bench back seat of a Ford Probe on the 12 hour drive from Benning to DC. It went by fast with Dan for entertainment. My back and knees hurt but laughing the whole way made it quite bearable. Heck I'd do it again tomorrow to spend another day with the guy. Another thing about Dan, in Columbus, GA the odds aren't in a young man's favor, and many of the women were a bit wary of military guys (for good reason). Then there was Dan. He is this goofy looking guy from Oregon. Yet every weekend, he'd be out on another date with another of the hottest peaches in Georgia. I'm sure hearts broke all over when he passed. I know mine did.

Bill had a heart the size of his native Texas. He could make everyone he met feel like a best friend. There's a long standing tradition in the 75th Ranger Regiment of junior NCOs pretty brutally hazing new soldiers. Most of it involved intensive physical training to a point beyond pain and of pure stupidity. I remember Bill from day one could usually talk the junior NCOs out of it or make them laugh so that they would let him out of it. This was a really special talent. Never saw a private manage it before or since. When Bill became an NCO he didn't partake in the hazing tradition either. He loved his guys - even the messed up ones - like they were his own kids. The only thing Bill might have loved more than family and his fellow soldiers was the Dallas Cowboys. This was in the days of Troy and Emmitt. I had grown up a huge fan of the Washington Redskins. We sucked at the time. I would be in my Monday morning Redskins lost again depression. Bill would look at me and be like, hey man, how bout them Redskins? Something about the way he said it, I'd start laughing too, and be over my depression. Never seen a smack talker who could get you to laugh right along with him before or since. That was Bill. I remember when I got the call that he was gone. I cried like a baby. I will never forget him. The last days of his heroic life are well detailed and documented in Lions of Kandahar so hopefully neither will America.

Memorial Day salutations to the VS community. I wish all of you could have known these guys. I was truly blessed, and so was our nation.