My First Military Funeral

Herb Nelson, a friend of the family, married to Cathy, who is no relation to me other than a weird fork in the family tree where friends of one branch become honorary relatives of the other. He and his wife lived in Joliet, where the state prison is and about 35 miles SW of Chicago, and once you drive through the poor side of town and head past Rockdale and Elwood, you encounter the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. I represented the family, as I tend to these past few years. An incredible sight, there were six other funerals during the time we were there--10:00 AM on Monday--and three graves being dug.

A Big Fish