My Constant Companion

Maj Hugh M Fanning

For over ten years now I have worn this man's name on my wrist. My silver MIA bracelet has never been taken off. Not for a shower, not for the tanning bed, not even for my wedding... never. He is always with me, my reminder of the people we've left behind, of lives cut short when they were much younger than I am now, my reminder that we must be vigilant as Americans and that we must strive to bring our lost home.


I've known his story since the day the bracelet came in the mail, but I'd never seen his face until today. I can't even express how it feels to look at his picture, I can't help but weep. I am so proud of this man I've never met, who was lost 10 years before I was even born. I'm so amazed by the wife and son he left behind. He's so much more real now, this man I think about every day, whose story I tell every time I'm asked what's on wrist. So that we may NOT FORGET.