Memorial Day, USA. Parades, speeches, shows of support for the troops,
followed by backyard picnics, time with the family, perhaps even the beginning
of vacations and summer leisure.

Well, for some of us. On this Memorial Day the family of Deborah Johns
is celebrating and thanking God for the safe return from Iraq of her son
William. He has just finished his third tour there as a Marine and received a
well-deserved hero's welcome Saturday when he arrived in San
Francisco.

For my sister-in-law, my nieces, and our entire extended family, there
is a different mood, as this Memorial Day marks the end of my brother-in-law
David's first week in Iraq. His first tour as a U.S. Army pilot is just
beginning as is the long year of waiting and worrying...