THE MILITARY ROLL CALL

A tradition of honoring our fallen...and about the hardest thing to witness that there is.

Spc. Francis Marie Vega was a lover of music who wanted a career in dance after she left the Army. Her name and rank were called out in a solemn roll call. She was not there to shout "present."...

About 1,000 U.S. soldiers, some wearing spurs and black regimental hats from the Indian Wars of the Old West, gathered at the regiment's western Iraq headquarters to remember the 15 comrades...

Command Sgt. Maj. John R. Caldwell read the roll call before the helmets, combat boots and rifles of the victims. The rifles stood in a row, their barrels down, each topped by a helmet and framed by the empty pair of boots.

The roll call works like this: Generally the senior enlisted man of the unit, whether the company first sergeant (1SG) or, at higher levels, the command sergeant major, will - at an appropriate time during the memorial service, call the roll of the unit.

And it goes like this back and forth between the 1SG and the members of the unit:

"Sergeant Avery"

"Here First Sergeant"

"Specialist Brown"

"Here First Sergeant"

"PFC Charles"

"Here First Sergeant"

"Specialist Vega"

(No response, only silence)

"Specialist Vega"

(No response)

"Specialist Vega"

(No reponse)

"Sergeant Williams"

"Here First Sergeant"...

It is almost the aural eqivalent of the familiar "missing man formation" of the Air Force.

I saw coverage of this on CNN this morning.

I wept.