If you didn't see this....

If you didn't see this NYTimes piece on the difficulties faced by the families of soldiers wounded and killed in Iraq, it's worth a read.

After Neil Santorello heard the news that his son, a tank commander, had been killed in Iraq, from the officer in his living room, he walked out his front door and removed the American flag from its pole. Then, in tears, he tore down the yellow ribbons from his tree.

Rather than see it as the act of a man unmoored by the death of his 24-year-old son, the officer, an Army major, confronted Mr. Santorello, saying,

"Don't be disrespectful," Mr. Santorello recalled. Then, the officer, whose job it is to inform families of their loss, quickly disappeared without offering any comfort.

Related: If you didn't see this either, the LATimes did a massive three part series over the last few days on the difficulties faced by those wounded in the Iraq war, and some of the tricks that are being used to get them off the books and out of the system. (Part I, Part II, Part III)