In the early hours of the morning, on the edge of the runway, sat a US Air Force cargo plane with its rear door open, its ramp resting on the ground. From the shadows, over the gravel and between the chain link fence, soldiers from all nationalities began to assemble. On one side the Americans formed, on the other, soldiers from the various nationalities here on this base... British, Canadian, French, Romanian, Dutch and Australian. Along side of the Americans stood a group of soldiers representing the Afghan National Army.
At the the head of the formation near the open back of the C-117, two flags could be seen drifting slowly in the early morning breeze; one was American, the other Afghan. As the soldiers continued to file in, audible commands could be heard over the noise of the flight line. The soldiers were brought into two unified formations, set in straight lines front to back and side to side, then left in a standing rest while they waited. A walkway divided them in the center.
As early morning moved to the twilight hours before sunrise, a vehicle could be seen driving up the runway. Its lights pierced the darkness as it drove under the aircraft wing and along side of the assembly of men and women. Making a hard right turn at the end of the formation, two soldiers could be seen sitting in the open back with a flag draped coffin between them; inside the casket lay the body of a fallen American soldier.
The vehicle backed in slowly towards the formation, coming to a stop a few feet from its end. The first two soldiers stepped out, boots touching the ground in unison. They were followed by six more. Standing together at attention, four on each side, the casket was removed from the back of the truck. Taking a firm grip on the handles hidden under the "Stars and Stripes," they made a precision right face, and began slowly walking towards the plane. With the men and women of uniform lined on each side, the procession marched slowly forward, as all of the soldiers were brought to attention and saluted in a final farewell to a fallen comrade.
Behind the procession marched a lone Canadian. He volunteered his time, as he does for every one of these ceremonies. Playing the bag pipes, his music cut through the noise of aircraft and equipment, settling in on the hearts for all to hear. A moment of silent tears and introspection.
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