A grieving, unnamed woman stood outside a funeral parlor awaiting the arrival of the remains of one of the latest U.S. servicemembers killed in the Afghanistan War. She was wearing a vest adorned with a variety of military-style patches, one identifying herself as a Gold Star mother, her son being another of the 2,426 U.S. servicemembers killedthus far in what has become the U.S.’s longest war, now in its 18th year.

When interviewed by one of the plethora of news reporters covering the wake and funeral, she responded that though she did…