Nicholas Sutter was the only one in his fifth grade class whose dad had died. Well, been
killed. Trent Sutter had been in the army, stationed in Iraq, since 2010. An official from the
army knocked on their door at 3 p.m. on April 9, 2011, and given Nicholas’ mom the news. It
had been an IED—an “improvised explosive device”—set off by an approaching vehicle. The
army official tried to assure Nicholas’ mom that her husband had died instantly and painlessly.