By all accounts, Pat Tillman would be uncomfortable with all of

the publicity surrounding his death in Afghanistan. He was that sort of

man. But as Robert Alt points out, we have a whole generation of

Tillmans who are willing to go in harms way for their country. This piece, which I received as an e-mail last week and has now appeared on a

website, describes the return home of one such young man. It moved me

greatly, not only because it captures the impact of a single death on

all Americans who came in to contact with him, but also because it made

me remember how many of my comrades made a similar journney some three

and a half decades ago.