Giving Honor

On January 29, 2017, Navy Seal William Ryan Owens died on a mission in Yemen. I once talked with him on the phone after finding myself in posessiin of dozens of photos and letters his mom had saved over his lifetime. I wanted to return them, so I tracked him using his wife's name Carryn. The call to Virgina Beach was brief, but I assured him I would send her personal memories to him, mailing them the next day.

That awful day in January, I stared at the news article announcing his death. He was smiling, just like in all of those old photos I found. It broke my heart for his wife and kids. I vowed that if I every traveled to DC, I would go to Arlington National Cemetery and see where he was buried.  

Yesterday I went. It was a rainy, dreary day. I walked to the far corner of the cemetery which held the most recent graves. I found him. I said goodbye. I gave a silent prayer for his family and that he was enjoying the riches of heaven.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

May you always know you served your country well, Ryan.