Before last year, I had never thought about what happens when the bodies of soldiers killed overseas are returned to the United States. On Oct. 16, 2017, I experienced it firsthand — as I escorted my young sons through an airport to collect their father’s remains. Bryan Black, and his team were ambushed outside the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger, 12 days earlier. Islamic State militants who had been tracking the unit’s movements shot and killed Bryan along with three other American soldiers. It wasn’t until I saw the coffin come out of the commercial jet’s cargo hold that his death finally became real for me.

Source: New York Times December 21, 2018 10:00 UTC