Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert | Military Times

My father, a Korean War veteran, told me after I admitted I was thinkng of friends who didnt make it home from deployment, "We must live each day to its fullest. We live to preserve their memory and carry on where they could not, because they sacrificed so we could live." I have never forgotten that conversation with him. It has given me strength to continue to strive for excellence, so that I can honor their memory. Never forget their memory, but dont forget to live!

It's hard to let go of those moments, or at least lose the crappy feelings that take you down every time you stop to think about the past. I don't know if those moments for me will ever go away. I lost 5 battle buddies on 9 April 2009. When it happened I didn't know it was my friends that got hit. They we supporting another battalion and got hit with a VIED. I called that battalion up and asked if my soldiers were ok and the guy on the other end treated the info the same way you handle a shopping list for crap you didn't want in the first place. He just listed off the names of my friends one after the other like they don't didn't matter. One buddy I didn't know even went out the wire that day. He took the place of one of his soldiers to give them a break. By the fifth name I was standing feeling numb and kind of lost. I informed the chain of command and we had a bad few weeks after that. For a time after I kept seeing some of them in other people. Every time I'd see someone even close to looking like my friends I'd swear it was them only to get that kick to the gut to remind me.
I can't say it with ever leave you but know there are many of us out there who feel close to what you're feeling.
Don't know if my story helps or not but there it is.

Sergeant, the fact that you are still trying to live your life in a way that would bring honor to their names gives testimony to the fact that you are doing that very thing.

Captain Seifert and Major Stone will never be forgotten, and people like yourself bring honor to their names every day that you wake up and live your life in a way that you feel would bring honor to them.

In death, that is what I would like and want, and I think every warrior is that way. A warriors death in battle, while not desirable, is honorable. Warriors do not desire that other warriors should lose hope, yet they drive on and live their lives, and the greatest honor that you could ever bestow upon them is that their names live on in others who will carry them on during the course of their lives, and live their lives as fully as they can.

I salute you for being one to carry those names on and thank you for your service.