Meet Allison

A beautiful girl isn't she? She is a Naval pilot - a helicopter pilot like my daughter. Allison had the world by it's tail -- she was smart, a naval aviator, great family, and wonderful future ahead of her. She was going to be married next month. Her fiance and she were very much in love. She was getting ready to be deployed and was aboard the Nimitz off of the coast of San Diego - not that far, really. You see, the pilots and other soldiers do 'work-ups' where they practice their maneuvers and drills and such before they are in harms way. It's like a dress rehearsal. It's all done in a safe territory. Well, as safe as you can be when you are flying in a helicopter... in a night fog, using infrared lenses to make out land from sea. Something went wrong. We don't know what - we may never know.

Allison and four other soldiers went down in the sea. The helicopter was shattered as were so many lives. There will be no wedding. There will be five funerals.

I have gotten to know Allison in a vicarious way as my daughter Jen was assigned to bring her home to her family. Jen broke the news to the family, made countless arrangements, and was the soldier that saluted Allison along her transport as she made her way in a flag draped coffin aboard her many aircraft that carried her from San Diego to her hometown in New Orleans. Along her side, there was Jen, in salute. There were transfers along the way, and Jen stood by her, saluting. I asked Jen, "When is your responsibility over?" Through tears, which no one but I know about, she replied, "When she has arrived at the mortuary".

Jen will be at the funeral. Allison's family is blessed by Jen - another female aviator.

How can we ever begin to fathom the loss of lives that continue to happen?

I don't know. I knew Allison through Jen. When Jen sent me the picture, I cried. All of a sudden, there was a person attached to this horrible madness and I can see her.

God bless Allison and all our fallen soldier's and their broken hearted families. The tragedy is beyond comprehension.

And God bless people like Jen who offer to play the piano or otherwise participate at their funerals. Who go above and beyond. They are the angels that the family needs to help during this difficult time. I am as proud of Jen as I am sad for Allison and her family.

This is when you see real character in people.