“I’m sure, buddy,” I said.

I sat in the quiet room, staring at the red rejection mark on Form 2841 on my kitchen table.

At nine on Wednesday morning, Principal Valerie Thorne laid her silver ballpoint pen across her desk blotter and looked from one of us to the other.

Lieutenant Easton Wyler stood at the office window in spotless Navy service dress whites, checking his gold wristwatch for the third time since I’d come in.

“The rules on military representation at schools are perfectly clear, Principal Thorne,” Wyler said, his voice clipped and sharp.