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As an Army widow, I will never forget how ordinary Americans honored my husband
On Nov. 2, 2023, I lost my husband Andy in a Humvee accident during an Army Reserve training exercise in Virginia. He was a captain. He was four months shy of his twenty-eighth birthday. We had a 17-month-old daughter named Adalyn, we were in the middle of building a home, and we had just received pre-approval on a 200-acre farm, a purchase we had dreamed of for years. None of that mattered by 2:20 that afternoon, when I picked up the phone and heard his commanding officer say words, I asked him to text me, because my ears were ringing and the walls felt like they were caving in.
Three days later, I drove to Virginia Commonwealth University trauma center in Richmond with my family, to bring Andy home. A hearse from the funeral home in Edinburg met us there. Andy’s commanding officer was waiting in uniform, with the straight back and stoic features you would expect from an Army officer. He gave me the tightest hug of my life, and as we separated, his legs buckled and he sank to his knees.
I figured the drive home would be a quiet two and a half hours. A small procession behind a white hearse with green markings, my brother-in-law at the wheel, my family, Andy’s brothers and a few friends following. I expected solemn. I expected uneventful.
I was wrong about all of it.
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The first overpass should have been a hint. I glanced up from a text on my phone and saw a fire engine parked across the bridge, an American flag draped over its side, three uniformed firefighters holding fast at salute as we approached. This is for Andy, I realized. This is for us.
A few miles down, another overpass appeared, and on it another fire engine, this one with its ladder raised and maybe a dozen uniformed firefighters standing centered over a massive American flag hanging down across the railing. Saluting. The sight was awe-inspiring and emotionally wrenching all at once. I held my gaze on that overpass until it shrank from view in the rear window, touched by the kindness of strangers and wishing only that I had thought to take a picture.
As it turned out, I would have plenty more chances.
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I could see the next overpass coming in the distance, what appeared to be tiny figurines standing before a toy fire truck. As we drew closer, I saw another American flag, this one held high by a pair of firefighters in dress uniforms saluting with their free hands. They had been joined by civilians who came on their own. Men, women, children and even toddlers little older than my daughter standing at salute.
We passed under around 35 overpasses on the way home. Firefighters maintained a stoic, reserved, respectful presence on almost every one of them. American heroes themselves, paying tribute to a fallen soldier they had never met. And it was not just the overpasses. People had pulled off the highway onto the shoulder of the road and were saluting us as we passed. I could not believe the multitude of strangers who paid their respects along the way.
I learned later that our friend Josh had helped arrange it. I had called him a few days earlier and asked if he could organize a small homecoming on Main Street in Woodstock for friends and family. I had not expected a homecoming that spanned the entire two-and-a-half-hour drive.
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Josh was a volunteer firefighter, and he knew the right people to call at the various municipalities along Route 64 and Route 81. His wife, Amanda, arranged for a professional photographer and videographer so that Andy’s final ride home would be preserved forever, mainly for Adalyn to watch one day when she is old enough to appreciate it.
One of the men in Andy’s unit, Mike, happened to also be a police officer in Richmond. He led the procession from the medical examiner’s office onto I-95. From there, local and state police took over from one another at regular intervals along the highway. At one point, they closed off access to the interstate to allow our small line of vehicles an unimpeded merge up the ramp. “This is what they do for the president,” my brother-in-law said.
No one had warned me about any of it. They wanted it to be a surprise, a pleasant shock in stark contrast to the one I had been handed three days before. That was especially true of one of the last tributes we passed under: a giant American flag suspended between two cranes over Route 81, flanked by ordinary people who wanted to show their support with a wave, a salute, a sign, or just a smile. I wish we could have stopped, so I could have thanked every single one of them.
Closer to home, the overpasses gave way to something equally inspiring. Farm equipment was parked along the outer edges of Route 81 for the last 35 miles between Harrisonburg and Woodstock. Not random farmers. Andy’s customers. Andy worked in agriculture and he treated the farmers he serviced like family. Now they were lining the road with their tractors, pickers, backhoes, loaders, cultivators and balers, standing before their machines in sad stoicism with a salute or a wave.
I did not know their politics. I did not know who they voted for or what teams they rooted for. I did not know their dreams or their failures, their tragedies or their celebrations. I just knew they had showed up.
We had set out for Richmond in the bright sunshine of early morning, a roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive. It took us four hours to get home, thanks to the endless memorial displays of tribute.
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I wish it had stretched on forever.
Our police escort guided us slowly along Main Street in Woodstock toward the funeral home. My neighbors stood lining the roadside, on their porches, in their front yards, waving the souvenir American flags attached to a stick. It looked like the Fourth of July. Pastor Nate stood with one foot in the road and the other on the sidewalk, crying as he held the Emanuel Church flag overhead, the same flag that had welcomed us to Woodstock years before.
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Andy had a line-of-duty death. Technically, that means I was handed the ceremonial folded flag at his funeral the following Friday. The Army actually provided three: one for me, one for Adalyn, and a third I gave to Andy’s Uncle Wayne. I have struggled, every day since, with whether I deserve to call myself a military widow. Andy did not die in Afghanistan or Iraq. He died in a training accident, on American soil, on a Thursday afternoon, four minutes after texting a friend that he would call him back in 15.
But what I learned on the road home from Richmond is that this country does not measure that distinction the way I did. The firefighters on those overpasses did not ask where Andy died, or how, or whether his death counted. They climbed up there in dress uniforms and held a flag and stood at salute for a stranger because he had worn the uniform, and he was not coming home.
On Memorial Day, I will think about all of them. The firefighters. The farmers. The neighbors with the little flags on sticks. Pastor Nate weeping on Main Street. The strangers who pulled their cars onto the shoulder of the highway because a hearse was passing. None of them knew Andy. All of them showed up for him.
That is what Memorial Day is. Not a sale, not a long weekend, not the start of summer. It is a country deciding, on its own, without being asked, to stand on an overpass and salute.
Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I hope your beers are cold, your grills are working and most of all that you have a happy and safe day. Take a moment to remember why we have this day, as well. Many brave men and women gave their lives for us to enjoy days like this, and we should be thinking about them a bit today as well.
The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the best teams in baseball. I suppose that shouldn’t come as much of a shock because the team has been one of the better franchises in the sport for many years. They somehow find a way to win no matter what team they have on the field. More than almost any franchise, they make diamonds out of starting pitchers, and their team plays good, fundamental ball. This year, they are almost 20 games over .500 and lead the American League East. They have, however, not been great on the road.
With a 15-11 road record, it isn’t like they are terrible, but they definitely have room for improvement. Today’s starter, Shane McClanahan, is one of the better pitchers in baseball, but injuries have kept him down for a couple of years. This season, he is throwing very well to a 5-2 record with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. His numbers are worse on the road, but they really aren’t that much different than his home starts. He faced the Orioles last week and allowed four earned runs on six hits over five innings.
The Baltimore Orioles were supposed to be improved this year. They made a lot of additions in the offseason and looked to try to get back into the playoffs. The team is 23-29 for the year, and in fourth place of the AL East. The team was 18-34 last year on Memorial Day, so there is at least progress. But, they are already 12 games back of the Rays, which means they will need quite a bit of help if they want to make a run for the postseason.
Looking to try to give him a bit of that help is today’s starter Kyle Bradish. I read on X from a sportsbook operator that their biggest liability (before the season started) was for Bradish to win the Cy Young. I don’t think the books have to worry about that. Bradish is 2-6 with a 4.13 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. He has good stuff, but injuries hurt him too. He’s made 10 starts this year, which is more than he made in either of the past two seasons. In fairness, most of his outings haven’t been bad, but the Orioles aren’t giving him much support. He faced the Rays in his last game and allowed two earned runs on four hits over 5.1 innings.
This should be a pretty good matchup. Looking across the board, I’d say this is likely the best pitching matchup of the day. That doesn’t mean it will definitely be a pitcher’s duel, but on paper the signs point to that. I’ll probably stay off of the total, though.
I am going to back the Rays. Tampa Bay swept Baltimore, so I’m sure the Orioles are looking for some revenge. Unfortunately, I don’t think they will do that against McClanahan. The Tampa pitcher didn’t have a great game last time, but he rarely has two bad performances in a row. Bradish has been decent this year, but he is also allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths which are converting into crooked numbers. Give me the Rays to win.
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For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024
Americans know something is broken in healthcare. Premiums keep rising, deductibles keep climbing and medical bills often arrive with charges no one can explain. Behind those frustrations is the fact that we operate within a healthcare system built around secrecy.
On May 18, President Donald Trump took on drug pricing with the expansion of TrumpRX, a first-of-its kind platform designed to allow Americans to find their drugs for less in a system styled to work like Airbnb or Priceline.com. Next, he should set his sights on hospitals and insurance companies.
Healthcare remains one of the most expensive and least transparent sectors of the American economy. Hidden prices, opaque billing systems and layers of middlemen cost taxpayers and working families hundreds of billions of dollars each year through fraud, waste and abuse.
The good news is that the Trump administration has the authority needed to begin to provide relief to the American people right now. What is missing is the enforcement.
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There are three practical steps that could be taken immediately to lower costs, expose fraud and restore public trust in the healthcare system.
First, give patients prices before care and empower them to join the fight against fraud, waste and abuse.
Americans cannot fight fraud if they cannot see it. Today, most patients learn the true cost of care only after treatment is complete, and the bills start arriving. By then, it is too late to compare costs or challenge suspicious prices.
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Congress and Trump already addressed this problem in the No Surprises Act by authorizing an Advanced Explanation of Benefits, or AEOB, at the end of Trump’s first term. Patients are supposed to receive itemized charges before scheduled care showing expected services, prices, and out-of-pocket costs. That protection sat on the shelf for four years under President Joe Biden and is yet to be fully implemented.
Completing it would create immediate accountability. Patients could compare prices, identify inflated charges before treatment occurs, and keep a documented record if billing disputes with insurers or providers arise later. Every other major purchase in the economy comes with an upfront price. Healthcare should too.
Second, clean up the federal employee health program.
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The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program is one of the largest healthcare purchasers in the country, yet taxpayers and government alike still lack basic visibility into where much of the money goes.
Under existing law, the Office of Personnel Management already has authority to demand standardized claims and pricing data, conduct aggressive audits and verify dependent eligibility. Those are basic financial controls that would be expected in any competently managed organization.
Audits can uncover duplicate billing, inflated charges and improper payments. Eligibility verification can eliminate fraudulent or outdated enrollments that continue draining taxpayer dollars long after they should have ended.
Stronger oversight alone could save billions without cutting benefits or passing a single new law.
Third, force transparency across employer health plans.
Most Americans receive coverage through employers or union-sponsored plans, yet many employers are denied access to the data needed to identify fraud and control costs. That must change.
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The Department of Labor is already moving toward stronger compensation disclosure requirements for Pharmacy Benefit Managers under ERISA. Those transparency requirements should extend to third-party administrators, insurers, stop-loss carriers and any entity receiving compensation from plan assets.
Employers and plan fiduciaries need direct access to claims data, payment records and fee structures without interference from middlemen.
Right now, many employers are effectively writing blank checks while intermediaries operate behind layers of secrecy. Transparency would shift employers from passive payers to active purchasers capable of negotiating better value for workers and businesses alike.
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These tools already exist, but they’re not being used. That is not a policy failure. It is an enforcement failure. Transparency rules without enforcement are meaningless.
Federal transparency rules are in place for hospitals and insurers, but many organizations continue filing incomplete or unusable pricing data with little to no consequence.
Americans are tired of hidden prices, surprise bills and unexplained costs. They want accountability. And unlike many healthcare debates, this is not fundamentally about ideology. It is about whether patients, employers, and taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going.
The authority already exists. The laws are already on the books. What is needed now is the will to enforce them. Maximum price transparency enforcement is the fastest way to empower Americans and make healthcare affordable again, and the Trump administration can get it done.
An investigational dementia drug may also ease alcohol withdrawal by calming the brain inflammation linked to addiction and relapse.
That’s according to researchers at the University of Kentucky, who studied an experimental medication called MW150 that targets a brain inflammation pathway known as p38α MAPK.
The drug, which has not yet been approved, is designed to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
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Scientists believe neuroinflammation may contribute to relapse risk and long-term neurological damage in people with alcohol use disorder.
In laboratory and animal-model experiments, MW150 was found to reduce certain inflammatory markers during alcohol withdrawal.
The work, which was published in the journal Alcohol, came from the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, led by neuroinflammation researcher Linda Van Eldik.
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Caleb Bailey, PhD, co-author of the study and a researcher in Van Eldik’s lab, said the study provides “biological plausibility” that MW150 could mitigate neuroinflammation arising from alcohol withdrawal.
Alcohol use disorder is difficult to treat because of high relapse rates, especially during withdrawal, according to Bailey.
“If follow-up experiments reveal similar anti-inflammatory effects of MW150 in animal models of alcohol use disorder, it would provide a strong rationale for development of MW150 as a treatment for those struggling with chronic alcohol relapse due to alcohol withdrawal,” he told Fox News Digital.
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MW150, along with a related drug called Neflamapimod, is already being investigated in clinical trials as a potential therapy for dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions, the researchers noted.
“That gives this work added significance,” Bailey said. “Because these compounds are already further along in development for other neurological diseases, it raises the possibility that they could someday be repurposed more efficiently for alcohol-related conditions if future studies continue to show promise.”
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There were some important caveats of the research, including that it was conducted in cell culture and animal models.
“Because they are ‘dish’-based models, they provide limited information regarding what happens in the full organism – or even the full brain for that matter,” Bailey said.
“A series of follow-up studies in living animals is required to more fully understand how future MW150 treatment in alcohol use and withdrawal affects systemic health and/or alcohol consumption.”
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Dr. Amy Swift, deputy chief medical officer at Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut, was not involved in the study but shared her reactions to the findings.
“Although detoxification using tapering doses of medication has long been considered the evidence-based first step in treating alcohol use disorder, its impact on the long-term trajectory of a person’s drinking behavior has been limited,” she told Fox News Digital.
“Put simply, detoxification does not treat alcohol use disorder itself; rather, it prevents the potentially fatal complications of alcohol withdrawal.”
Adding supportive medications — especially those intended to improve overall brain health — could address an important gap in early treatment of detoxification, according to Swift.
“Given the profound inflammatory effects alcohol has across multiple organ systems, it is worthwhile to investigate whether reducing neuroinflammation could improve a patient’s ability to engage in treatment earlier in recovery and, in turn, meaningfully alter their long-term relationship with alcohol,” she added.
Bailey emphasized that no amount of alcohol consumption is good from a physical health standpoint.
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“We don’t currently have robust pharmacological treatments to mitigate damage caused by chronic alcohol consumption,” he said. “Minimizing alcohol consumption, therefore, is the best strategy for staying healthy.”
As the MW150 compound continues to be studied for dementia patients, Bailey saud, “information regarding the interaction between these drugs and alcohol – for better or for worse – will be important for patient outcomes.”
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