Death be not proud

« Nathan Wood, Marine LCpl age 19, in Kirkland, WA. »

Aaron Huey sent me this photo that is featured on Sunday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer's front page and asked that I share it. My father was a Marine in the signal corps in one of those wars few remember and even fewer remember what the war was about. Fortunately, he didn't come home in a box as this teenager did. There just aren't words that describe what war is really all about better than a single picture. War is death. Death of people you know and love. Something to think about this week as families come together for Thanksgiving, some with an empty chair or two at the table.

I took this photo yesterday at the funeral of Nathan Wood, Marine LCpl age 19, in Kirkland, WA. Nathan was killed November 9 in Fallujah. His best friend, Garrett Ware, also a marine fighting in Falluja, was injured and sent home with a purple heart. In this image Garrett hugs Nathan's father, Rex Wood, at the funeral in Kirkland yesterday.