I do not know anyone who has lost their life in military service, though I do know several veterans of war.
Regardless of how one may feel about military activity, war or the systems for bringing people into the armed forces, the willingness to risk everything for the people of the United States of America is to be respected. My hope is that those lives are risked only when it’s absolutely necessary, because their losses weigh heavily on the people and uncertain futures they leave behind.
Despite having a father, brother and step-father, and several uncles, cousins and friends who’ve served, I didn’t grow up within a “military family” culture. In fact, the veterans I know best so rarely refer to their service that we could almost be forgiven for forgetting it ever occurred.