One American Life

I thought this was a terrific piece in the Times, just perfectly indicative of not only the horrors of returning from war (and war itself, of course), but of the particular appeal (not the only appeal) of the military's discipline to a certain type of person ("I mean, man, I was made for war.") and, not least, of a kind of doomed life -- the type of life that doesn't get paid much attention unless it dovetails with a large social issue like the current war.

Sam Ross's childhood was not easy. "Sam's had a rough life from the time he was born," his grandfather, Joseph Frank Ross, said. His parents fought, sometimes with guns, until they separated and his mother moved out of state. Mr. Ross bore some of the brunt of the turmoil.

That last sentence alone is a study in understatement. It's hard to imagine a much sadder story.