My father volunteered for the US military right after Pearl Harbor. His color-blindness excluded him from the army and marines, so he enlisted in the Army Air Force. He served in Kentucky testing radar-controlled 20mm cannons in B-25 bombers. He said they lost a crew a week. My father demobilized as a captain and the US Air Force send an honor guard to the cemetery. They folded the flag with precision and the bugler played taps.
The honor guard sergeant said, "On the part of the president and a grateful nation, we offer your family our condolences."
Everyone at the grave lifted their eyes to the sky. A plane flew overhead. A commercial liner heading for Logan.
The Air Force rarely do fly-overs at memorials, so this jet would have to serve my father's honor.
A man of peace.
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