Animal Writings

Ryan Cox was from Derby, Kansas. He liked to listen to Pink Floyd, and he had a soft heart for homeless animals.

He joined the Marines in 2002. He trained at Camp Pendleton and was subsequently dispatched to Najaf, Iraq. One night, during a scuffle in the barracks that got out of hand, he was accidentally shot. Dead at 19.

Shortly thereafter, three marines showed up on the Cox's doorstep to tell the family that their son had been killed.

Ryan's' parents still have his bed made up. His Marine fatigues hang in the closet. Jordan, the stray cat he adopted 12 years ago, curls up next to Ryan's boots. They all know he's gone yet they're waiting for him to return.

Today, flags are draped in Falls Church, Virginia, and in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and in Sandpoint, Idaho, and in Derby, Kansas—and perhaps in your home town, to remember Ryan Cox and other veterans.