After son's death in Iraq, father embeds with unit to tell his story

After son's death in Iraq, father embeds with unit to tell his story
Story Highlights
Soldier's book was left unfinished when he was killed in Iraq

His father was determined to complete the project

He knew he had to journey to Iraq to tell his son's story

Book published this year is a father's final gift to his son
By Moni Basu
CNN

(CNN) -- When the news came, Darrell Griffin hurled the phone.

Then he got in his car and navigated the madness of Los Angeles highways, thankful only for the time it gave him to think about what he would say to his family. Later, consumed with the grief of losing a son, Griffin drew the drapes in his bedroom and made his world mimic the darkness in his heart.
After he buried Darrell "Skip" Griffin Jr. and after the sympathy calls faded, the elder Griffin, like every American who has ever lost a beloved soldier, struggled to resume life's normal rhythms.
But this is where Griffin's journey veered from others and took a twist so unique that it made the U.S. Army bend its rock-hard rules. The 55-year-old accounting consultant, who opposed Vietnam and had never served in combat, traveled to the epicenter of the Iraq war. There, he would trace his son's last days.
The result, "Last Journey: A Father and Son in Wartime," is a common story about a father-son relationship, told in an uncommon way.
Listen to Darrell Griffin read excerpts from his son's journal
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/09/16/iraq.soldier.book/index.html