Ultimate Sacrifice

The view people have of me, is subjective to how well you know me. I've been told I'm everything from heartless to fearless. People don't understand why I am the way I am. How I shut things off and think the way I do. Its simple actually. I do it because I must. The pain of Army life can be overwhelming, the following is a prime example as to why.
Less than 72 hours ago, PFC. Chris Barton assigned to 3rd platoon, Shadow Company 1-33 Cav with the 101st Airborne Div was killed in the line of Duty. He left behind his family, friends and soldiers. The grief that they feel affects us all. He was stationed in Afghanistan, and barely out of basic. When any soldier dies, its painful. But when a Private First Class gives his life its unbearable.
PFC Barton was not the first and sadly he will not be the last. As a wife, we hear rumors of something happening. But we do not have a name. So we sit by our doors and wait to see if the are coming to us. We check our windows and peepholes before we answer the door, to ensure the person on the other side isn't in uniform. We know once we see that dress uniform our life as we knew it is over. We have to tell our children their daddy won't be coming back. We have to tell our in-laws their sons died so someone else didn't have to. We have to live with the guilt and nightmares of knowing what our spouses, friends, brothers, sisters or parent endured on their last moments.
I am not a war protestor, I fully believe what these men and women are doing in the Middle East. I will not let them die in vain.
Thank you PFC Chris Barton, you will not be forgotten.