The mournful and moving account of Staff Sgt. Emanuel Pickett's brother taking him back to Wallace, and the weaving of Pickett's life story, the people he touched, the people he has left behind, moved me to tears. I felt every part of reporter Jay Price's storytelling, and the heartbreak at every turn. The picture with the story was gutwrenching.

This story reminded me of all the sacrifices that our men and women and their families continue to endure in the name of the United States of America.

The losses continue, and without getting caught up in the who, what, when and, of course, why, I found a story of a local hero, who spent his life in our community as a public servant, who reconnected me to the numbers.

The war has droned on, and we are reduced to sound bites, short paragraphs on the numbers and the names and towns of those killed in Iraq. For The N&O to bear witness to a life cut short and the unspeakable loss of that life is commendable.

As the daughter, niece and wife of retired military personnel, I say, "Thank you, Staff Sgt. Pickett and the Pickett family, for the sacrifice made for our country."

Patty Jasper

Apex