"The minute you saw him standing there framed in the doorway, you knew."

"Was it worth his life? It’s not for me to say. He answered the question for me."

Today is Memorial Day. In lieu of your regular edition of The Transom, I commend to you these remarks to the Gold Star Parents, from February of 2012, delivered by Lt. Gen. John Kelly, USMC, at the time the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense.

I never met any of your loved ones … your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and spouse…