You see enough notices and stories about the deaths of young American military men and women, in combat or elsewhere, that your mind sometimes searches for certain words – or the lack of them – while reading them.
Thursday’s announcement about the night-time training death of a 32-year-old U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot in the Adriatic Sea sadly falls into that category.
An accompanying release from Captain Lucas Gruenther’s family says the 2003 Air Force Academy graduate was “a compassionate husband, a loving son, and a devoted brother.”
Amid such sorrow, is it wrong to feel relief at the missing word — “father” — in that passage?
Alas, a quick Google search reveals that his wife, Cassy, is expecting their first child in several weeks.
R.I.P., Captain Gruenther. Thank you.