I'm headed up to Washington state in a few hours for my cousin Timm's funeral. Timm had served in the United States Army for the last 5 years. He had been on leave for about the last year and working on a degree at Washington State University.
He was just recently called to head back to Iraq. This would have been about his 3 tour in Iraq alone. He also served in Korea and Afghanistan I believe. The post-traumatic stress he incurred while in Iraq was so bad, he felt it necessary to take his own life instead of heading back.
I can no longer have my family return, but I hope all of yours returns safely. And soon.
-- Christian Hergert 2008-04-03