It Was a One Way Ticket

He was nineteen.  He was standing with his parents, his brother, and his sister at the train station.  As the train was pulling up, they hugged each other.  He boarded the train.  They waved as the train pulled out of the station.

What they did not know was that it was a one way ticket.

He died in battle.

For many soldiers in wartime, it is a one way ticket.  They board the train to head for battle, and they do not come back.

On this Memorial Day, we remember the men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Navy Seals who boarded the train only to find that they had a one way ticket.

A special thanks to the Everett Railroad Company in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, the Exchange Hotel and Civil War Medicine Museum in Gordonsville, Virginia, and the East Broad Top Railroad for supplying the models and for their service and honor of those who serve in the Armed Forces.