Somehow with each visit to the Wall I've learned one can always expect the unexpected. As a Christian, I learned long ago to acknowledge the joy involved in the passage from this veil of tears to eternal life with Jesus. As a human being, former Marine, and friend I take time to mourn my own losses at the Wall. I mourn what would have been had these men lived, loved, worked, neighbored and the many aspects of life we so casually take for granted. God had a calling for them, which I can only accept.
Spiritual warfare is one unexpected corollary of combat and human conflict.
It is an even deeper arena testing courage and convictions. At times we become so wrapped in the pain of the moment we neglect to consider the larger framework in which grief occurs. The loving fruits of grief are sometimes visible only years later. As I watch people passing by the Wall, occasionally I glimpse how the Lord has used momentary grief for eternal purposes. The quiet widow standing strong in faith with her children, praying together, united in their assurance of reunion in Paradise.