The Ambo: Homilies for the Faithful

note: a few months ago, my father passed away. It took more than 6 months to be able to have a burial service at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, due to reasons I will never understand fully. I was asked by my mother to deliver the eulogy at that occasion, December 10, 2014.   Welcome family and friends. We meet here today at this hallowed place of national memory to honor and celebrate Charles Joseph Bauer—father, husband, man of faith, soldier, and rags-to-riches American success story—indeed, his a life well-lived and full. We have only hurried moments now to reflect upon this life, but any of us can share a personal observance during the reception that follows our services. Charlie (many of us knew him affectionately as “Pia”) was a man with a deep sense of FAMILY . Perhaps this strong sense of family was due to his own early life experiences of being orphaned and separated from his siblings in foster care. Along with his dearly departed sister and brothers, he fought