Memorial Day hits a bit harder this year. A few weeks ago, we lost a great warrior, Kyle Milliken. Kyle was a member of one of the toughest teams in the world, the Navy Seals, with whom he served our country for 15 years. I first met Kyle in 1996 when we became teammates on the cross country team at Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine. He quickly became one of my closest friends, and being two years older than I was, he became someone I looked up to while learning to navigate through my new surroundings.

Kyle was a teammate in every sense of the word. He was always there for anything you needed, whether it was giving you a ride to a meet, helping you through a tough time, or battling your rivals on the track. His college coach at Connecticut called him a "glue guy," a reference Tom Brady even called out in his dedication to Kyle.

On the track, he became a guy we counted on for our 4x400m relay team, especially in 1998. This was the team that set the state record in the event and at the state meet that spring. Our school was trying to win a sixth consecutive state title, and the 4x400m was critical to this goal. We had a one-point lead heading into the final event and needed to beat rival school Edward Little to win the event and secure the team title. For three of the guys on the team, it was their last race they'd ever run together in a Cheverus uniform. Kyle's leg that day demonstrated the kind of teammate and warrior he was. He received the baton with the largest deficit the team had experienced all season. It didn't matter though because when the stakes were highest, he came through. He wasn't going to let his teammates down. There was no way the team would end that meet and their careers without a victory.

Thanks for all the memories, thank you for protecting our country, and thank you for being the greatest teammate. We are thinking about you and your family today along with the many others who have lost their lives while serving.