“Thank you, Mrs. Mitchell,” Father Brenner said. “Would anyone else like to share a memory?”

Sgt. Jason Coleman walked up to the podium in his dress uniform. He flashed a brilliant smile and said, “I’ve met some wonderful people today. Peter Mitchell surrounded himself with the people he loved, and he missed you all so very much. I led our squad on the day he fell. It was just a routine patrol and it’s hard to even talk about it now. Peter always told me he prided himself in never losing a friend. Whenever he’d get into it with somebody, he’d always say that life is too short to lose a friend. Funny how he always said that, huh?”

Jason stopped as a steady stream of tears fell down his smooth black cheeks. He put his hands to his eyes, paused, and said, “Sorry, just a second. Peter, um… Peter said his father taught him that life is too short to lose a friend. Now that I’ve met his Dad, Tom, I can understand why he lived his life that way. Pete never liked crying. Hang on-”

“It’s O.K., son,” Tom said.