I trust that I may be forgiven a short quote from the fourth stanza of the Star Spangled Banner,
O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Nationalities aside, there are few more poignant expressions of a soldier's duty.
A duty that Corporal Reid, and the others before him, carried out with honour and professionalism.
A duty that cost him his life, us a comrade, and our nation a loved son.
Requiescat in pace.