On Friday, June 9th, my nephew Army Specialist Bryant Luxmore was shot and killed by two snipers as he led his platoon down an unnamed street in an unknown village in Afghanistan. He was 25. “BJ”, as he was known to everyone, had earned a degree in Law Enforcement from Illinois College, where he played varsity baseball prior to enlisting. He leaves behind a wife, Jamie and a young son, Lane.

It has been said that war is Hell.

Compared to what war does to families, I’ll take Hell anytime.

                                                                  To An Athlete Dying Young

                                                                                    A. E. Housman, with adaptation

The time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the market-place;

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,

Shoulder-high we bring you home,

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away

From fields where glory does not stay

And early though the laurel grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see your records broke,

And silence sounds no worse than cheers

After death has closed your ears:

Now you will not join the crowd

Of lads who wore their honors out,

Of Athletes whose fame did fade

Whose name had died before the man.

And so, before the echoes fade,

We bring you to this hill of shade,

Valor and honor are now your due,

Peace and glory forever with you.

Until another time…

Bruce