4 years ago, our family received simultaneous knocks on our doors notifying us of Mark’s death on the battlefield. He had been killed in action about 5:30 am central time–about the time many of us were getting up for work. How did we not know something was wrong that day? How could Mark have taken his last breath just as we were getting ready for another seemingly normal day?
There is no answer for that and no need to worry. He lived great and he died great. The below pictures were taken at Dover AFB on 30 September 2010, known as the Dignified Transfer. This is Mark’s body arriving back on American soil. You can see that the rain wouldn’t let up that night, but the men carrying his transfer case did so with dignity and unfazed by the weather. He was the last one off the plane. It was a short, awful, and yet powerful ceremony.