A Veteran’s Day Reflection

There is a particular kind of silence that lives in the stories we do not tell.

Sometimes it is the silence of grief.

Sometimes it is the silence of pride.

And sometimes it is the silence of not knowing if the story will be understood by the people who hear it.

Veterans live with this silence in a way that is both deeply personal and universally shared.

I know this silence because I lived it.

I served as a United States Marine Corps musician. I was not on the front lines of battle carrying a rifle (just the front ranks of a parade band carrying my instrument), but I carried something else: I carried the responsibility of morale, tradition, community, and ceremony. I carried the weight of honoring others’ sacrifices. I played at funerals, stood for taps, and watched families hold their breath in the space between the final note and the reality of loss settling over them.

And like most veterans, I don’t tell those stories.

Not because I am ashamed, but...