Hollow army.

• Author: Walker, Jesse
• Position: Artifact - Brief article

BEHOLD THE Holbrook family: Logan, age 3, Justin, age 14, and their father, Lt. Col. Randall Holbrook of the Maine National Guard. If Dad seems to lack a little depth, it's because the real Randall Holbrook is currently serving abroad. The government won't bring him home, but it can do the next best thing: create a life-sized cutout for his wife and kids to carry around, as part of the Maine National Guard's Flat Daddy/Flat Mommy program.

It sounds like a wry satire--an echo, even more sardonic, of that ancient Saturday Night Live sketch about the insurance company that replaces departed dads. ("Sure, you've provided for them financially--but what about their emotional...