This commuter won't like driving in Wootton Bassett either

As the casualty count soars higher in Afghanistan for both British and American troops, so too are the funeral processions for the soldiers killed whilst combating Taliban insurgents. In the UK, more soldiers have died in the War on Terror in Afghanistan than in Iraq, and many of these fallen men and women in uniform have been honoured upon their return to their native soil by way of a casket procession through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett. Here, the high street has closed down in the mid-afternoon as the caskets move slowly away from the nearby Royal Air Force base in Lyneham and toward a coroner's hospital office in Oxford. Townspeople and veterans of prior wars line up on the streets hours before the procession makes it way through the town.

One such person who might find this a terrible traffic tie-up recently made herself known in suburban St. Louis this week. A woman wrote a letter of complaint to Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer, stating that she was displeased with how the funeral procession of a Marine who died from wounds incurred in Afghanistan took up one lane of traffic on Highway 30, but that traffic was stopped in the other by persons affiliated not with law enforcement but with Patriot Guard, a veterans' group that escorts military funeral processions by motorcycle. In particular, she took offence to two members of the group who dismounted and approached her car, being described as "dirty, nasty, renegade, who knows what", and berating her for not stopping for the procession.

Sheriff Boyer's response was anything but tepid. He wrote: "I would like to say that I am sorry for the inconvenience we caused you during the funeral procession of Sergeant 1st Class William B. Woods, but I cannot do so. I would ask instead that you take a moment of your time to take into consideration the scope of the event." Blasting the woman's distress as minuscule compared to what American soldiers are facing overseas, Boyer referenced his prior experience as a Vietnam veteran and spent the majority of the letter describing the sacrifices being made by the armed forces. Boyer sidestepped the concern of the woman's treatment by the Patriot Guard, mentioning that the soldier's uncle was among the riders and a Vietnam vet.

It remains to be seen how she responds to Boyer's e-mail, especially as it now makes its way around the Internet, or if she really was in need of a trip to the restroom or to pick up her kids from a daycare center. If it turns out she really can't think past the hood ornament on her vehicle (or where one would be if her car's model came with one), then I'd advise her to stand on the roadside the next time the bodies of eight young men who lives were cut short make their way to their final resting place. Whether or not she agrees with the mission on which, on average, one to two soldiers per day are paying the ultimate price, sacrifice for nation cannot go unnoticed or be eschewed in favour of shorter commutes.

The woman's e-mail and Sheriff Boyer's response have been posted on a Veterans of Foreign Wars forum.