There was no ache in my chest now as I looked at those empty rows.

The long, hollow quiet that had followed me through infantry training, staff assignments, and overseas deployments had disappeared somewhere between the podium and the front row that morning.

A ground squirrel ran across the bottom bleacher step, chattering at the quiet field before vanishing into the drainpipe.

I turned my silver class ring around my thumb twice and felt the raised metal crest press into my skin.

The granite field hadn’t changed since the morning I graduated as a second lieutenant.