IN MY SHOES: What It's Like To Be A Casualty Assistance Calls Officer
Washington Post columnist George Will interviews Jim Sheeler, author of “Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives,” about the duties of a casualty assistance calls officer, whose job it is to inform a spouse or parents that a loved one has died in battle:
Sheeler sees civilians getting glimpses of those who have sacrificed everything. The glimpses come as the fallen are escorted home. When an airline passenger, noting an escort's uniform, asked if the sergeant was going to or coming from the war, he repeated words the military had told him to say: “I'm escorting a fallen Marine home to his family from the situation in Iraq.” …
“When the plane landed in
“From their seats in the plane they saw a hearse and a Marine extending a white-gloved hand into a limousine. In the plane's cargo hold, Marines readied the flag-draped casket and placed it on the luggage conveyor belt.
“Inside the plane, the passengers couldn't hear the screams.”
Will’s assistant, Sarah Walton, lost his life in
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