Gentle Readers,

It was an emotional and uplifting afternoon at Arlington. Uplifting because John is done with us now, and his ashes returned to the soil. Uplifting because the shining swords and crisply presented rifles represented the very best of the Few and the Proud. Emotional because we stood on the grounds made sacred by the sacrifice and service of so many.

I referenced the Facebook page in my note last night as a way to look at the depiction of the very best that the proud young men and women of the Marine Corps and the Army’s Third Infantry (The Old Guard) do for one of their own.

After the Catholic mass of the Resurrection at the Old Chapel, I had a chance to ride with my pal Mac in his Jaguar down the hill to the burial site, all the cars following the marching Marine honor guard and the slow and elegant caisson drawn by those magnificent black horses.

This approach to see the pictures might be easier, and more friendly to the non-Web 2.0 crowd. You can click on this link and then follow the links to the two page spread of photos: http://navintpro.net/

It was all so emotional that I spent the time playing with the picture, rather than outlining the impact of the Schlesinger Commission on the Reorganization of the Intelligence Community in 1970, and the subsequent transformation of the institutions that is still contentious and not complete today.

The pictorial represents completion of a life mission. It represents closure, and it represents a little bit of the best in all of us.

The other story doesn’t, so let’s leave this one the way it is for today.

Photos and Story Copyright 2010 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com