I will not say that they lived happily ever after, for that is not the way things go. The mundanity of life soon pressed in, and the glow of victory faded in the face of a thousand day-to-day comings and goings. Friendships drifted apart, love affairs began and were ended, children were born and estranged. Some wore what had happened like a badge of honor; others lay awake nights trying to forget.

But know this: whenever they wished it, or whenever they met each other after long years lived in a world they no longer cared to understand, the strong and secret fire that had spurred each of the companions to shake the earth was rekindled. If only for a moment, everything could be as it once had been when they’d stood in the piercing light of victory and sacrifice.

And that’s more than most people can claim.