Kim Reynolds: “on Monday, an MV-22 Osprey crashed during a training mission in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The crash took the lives…”

“on Monday, an MV-22 Osprey crashed during a training mission in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The crash took the lives of all four Marines on board: Lieutenant Colonel Keith Sweaney of Richmond, Virginia; Major Michael Murphy of Blauvelt, New York; Staff Sergeant Avely Runnels of Morven, Georgia; and Sergeant Jason Buyck of Sodus, New York. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of these brave men who gave the last full measure of their devotion and service to our Nation. I know that all Americans join in mourning the loss of these brave Marines. While it is difficult to find the words that express the depth of our sadness and sense of loss, I am reminded of a 1864 letter from President Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby of Boston, which became widely known after its use in the film Saving Private Ryan. President Lincoln's simple eloquence is timeless and poignant: ``I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming,'' Lincoln wrote. ``But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. ``I pray that our Heavenly Father may ease the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.'' ____________________”