When I was in Iraq, there was a unit of the 173rd Airborne Brigade co-located with us on base. They did daily patrols outside the wire, driving non-armored Humvees (this was in 2003, before MRAPS and uparmored Humvees came into theater). We got a call that an Army troop had died, and they were forming an honor cordon to carry his transfer case into a C-130 on our ramp. We (USAF) got a detail together and stood in formation under the rear part of the plane, as his transfer case was carried from the back of a Humvee ambulance and between two rows of his fellow paratroopers, saluting as he was brought into the plane for his final flight home. After they secured his transfer case inside, one of the younger female USAF troops went inside and was just standing there, looking at his flag-draped transfer case. She was in tears, and one of the senior NCOs went inside to help console her. I found out later this Army troop just turned 20 the week before he was killed by an RPG that blasted thru the door of his Humvee. I'll never forget his name, and just by sheer luck, the Associated Press ran an article about what happened to him, where he was from, his surviving family, etc. I have that article laminated in a frame, along with a picture of his transfer case being carried between those two rows of paratroopers.
"All gave some, and some gave all..." Carry on, Sky Soldier...
