I’ve been suffering from writer’s block.

This blog has been hanging over my head for a solid month now, and other than one quick post on the anniversary of Bud’s crash, I haven’t been able to get anything posted.  I think that maybe I’m trying to be sure that what I write matches the enormity of the event.  Or maybe I just can’t find the correct words to express the gratitude in all of our hearts.  Or maybe I’m just convinced more than ever that Bud’s story is Anna’s story and Anna’s story is his.  And telling this story just makes me miss her even more.  I’m not sure what it is, but I realized that it’s the facts of this story that make it wonderful.  So I will just tell the facts, and not try and interpret them or analyze them.

On Friday, July 21 we met these two wonderful people.

On the left, William “Shorty” Cox, Senior Mortuary Affairs Specialist, and on the right Captain Patrick Montes, Casualty Affairs Officer.  These men became “Team Bud”, assisting us with all of the details of Bud’s return.  On that day at my mom’s house we talked, asked questions, were educated, and marveled at the amazing steadfastness of the US military and their mission of leaving no soldier behind.  When we told them that day that we wanted a swift homecoming so that Anna could see it happen, they shared a glance with one another and then said, “Let’s make it happen.”  When I notified them of Anna’s passing a few weeks later, there was a choked up phone call apologizing that they couldn’t have accomplished their task sooner.  These men are family now.

And there are some pretty amazing connections here as well.

Captain Montes is originally from Nicaragua.  We joked with him that there are probably not too many “Patricks” in Nicaragua and that the coincidence in first name was impressive.  Then he told us his middle name: Joseph.  He shares Bud’s and my grandfather’s name.

In my first conversation with Shorty I told him that Bud was the name that everyone used for Patrick and he said that he liked anyone whose mama give him a nickname (such as himself!).  From that day, I only referred to him as Shorty and he only referred to our uncle as Bud.  But I was reminded of his given name however, when we were going through Anna’s things and we found a postcard from Bud that was signed by his pilot and a few ladies they went out with right before shipping off to New Guinea.  The pilot’s name was Bill Cox.  He writes,

P.S. I’m the pilot.  Don’t worry tho, I’ll see that he gets back!! Bill Cox

And Bill Cox (Shorty), and Patrick Joseph (Montes), well they certainly did just that.