I hurt for my Marines, goodhearted American guys who'd bear these burdens for the rest of their lives. And I mourned for myself. Not in self-pity, but for the kid who'd come to Iraq. He was gone. I did all this in the dark, away from the platoon, because combat command is the loneliest job in the world.

One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer (ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006) - ISBN: 9780618773435