Opinion (Ben Haaz): Resolving to break the silence

GROWING up in Philadelphia, my family spent New Year's Day hiking through the woods. The frozen air, dead trees and white earth reinforced the year's conclusion. When my parents asked me to think about the past year and set goals for the coming one.

This year, I spent New Year's Day flying back to my new home of Los Angeles. I boarded the plane without wandering through woods, so I spent the flight contemplating the past year and making my resolutions. Before our descent, the pilot's weary voice interrupted our thoughts and asked with a solemn yet soothing tone that we remain seated after the landing while a Marine carries out his mission.

Our physical descent paralleled my emotional one. I wondered if he could he be embarking on an operation in Iraq? Or, returning from one?

Upon arriving at our gate the plane was quickly surrounded by police cars. A passenger asked a stewardess, "Who is the soldier escorting?"

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