LIFE

He met me with a smile. “I’m so glad you stopped.” As if answering my unspoken question, he turned to show me the picture pinned to his backpack. “I do it for them,” he said. That night, Stephen Lewis, whose name I later learned, was walking in honor of Branden F. Oberleitner, BCO, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, KIA Fallujah, Iraq, 5-3-03. “Because he deserves to be remembered,” he added.

Life is like driving the open road or sailing the ocean. You don’t always know the destination and the journey is the adventure.

Gladys Silva-Perales of Newington is a veteran of the U.S. Army. She is passionate about shining a light on the service of the many women who she feels do not get the same credit as men for their service to this country.