rebecca's pocket

» I was very moved by this account of the beautiful (and, by tradition, hand-written) letters commanding officers write to the families of soldiers who have been killed under their command.

[B]efore coming here from his battalion's home base in Italy, [Lt. Col. Fenzel] bought some parchment stationery bearing the wing-and-sword crest of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He knew he would likely have to write letters such as these. He didn't want to use printer paper. [...] "I wait to find the words, and they will come," he says.