Unlike Veterans Day, which honors all who have served in the military, Memorial Day specifically pays tribute to fallen service members.
On this day, the father of Navy Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Second Class Matthew Bergman, a 21-year-old sailor from the USS Boxer who was lost at sea in 2011, posted an essay on his Facebook page he wrote for Home Post shortly after his son's death.
Since I took the job as blogger for Home Post in February 2011, I have written about far too many young men and women whose lives were cut short defending their country. But the story of Matthew Bergman has stayed close to my heart, in part because of the profound love his father Joe had for his son, and the beautiful way in which he expressed it.
