I got to talk to my son before he boarded the helicopter that he was killed in when it crashed and he told me that he had been doing some thinking. He said that he was proud of what he was doing, proud of why he was doing it, and proud of what he had become. I told my son that I couldn't be anything but proud of him. He was 21 when he was killed. He was half my age and twice the man I'll ever be.
