I returned the salute. Not as crisp as it used to be. But I still remembered how.
“At ease, Sergeant Major,” I said. “Please. Everybody sit down. Your chili’s getting cold.”
Nobody sat down.
Lieutenant Colonel Ortiz stepped forward and shook my hand with both of his.
“Mrs. Braddock,” he said. “I’m so sorry. We were coming to get you at the visitor center. You beat us here.”
“It’s Chili Thursday,” I said. “I wasn’t going to miss it.”
Then he turned to Sergeant Reese.
He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t have to.
“Staff Sergeant,” he said. “My office. Thirteen-thirty. Bring your first sergeant.”
“Roger, sir,” Reese said. His voice cracked on it.
He looked at me. His eyes were wet.
“Ma’am,” he said. “I’m…”
“Not now, son,” I said quietly. “You go on. We’ll talk later.”
He walked out of that dining hall with two hundred soldiers watching him go, and the double doors swung shut behind him.
