Yeah, that was intentional, Brad. I did it to hook the reader, and then jam up their world so the end of the article was more powerful. The point in making people immersed in the story was to show how people love the war stories on Memorial Day as opposed to what the wars cost (lives). That’s also why I painted the men I lost as an afterthought to further drive the point home. Glad it came out as intended and thank you for reading.