I don't want to downplay the grief that this mother must be going through. I can't begin to imagine the pain.

However, since she has publicly blamed the army and President Bush for killing her son, I wanted to find out more about the circumstances about how her son Seth came to join the army in the first place.

I then uncovered this interesting nugget:

Sue Niederer said her son talked about going into the Army right after high school, but his family told him he had to go to college first. She said her son dreamed of a career in the FBI or CIA and was persuaded by an Army recruiter that he would have a better chance of reaching that goal if he were a military veteran.

I'm no psychologist, but is it possible that underneath this woman's rage is a guilt trip? She must be thinking, "what if we let him go into the army a few years earlier"?

Regardless, I honor the family's sacrifice, feel guilty that neither my family nor I take the risks that theirs does in the name of our country. I do hope that in the long run our presence in Iraq will come to some significant good and Seth won't have died in vain.