Major C. Kaye

From his brief letter to Sartoris' Aunt Jenny, we learn a great deal about the major who commands the R.A.F. squadron. First, he has written enough of these notifications to speak by rote about the deceased; he calls Sartoris "your son" when he is in fact her great-nephew. Second, he is compassionate enough to write such letters himself and to offer the comfort that burial was done by a minister. Third, he has become so used to the circumstances of the war that he speaks to his civilian audience in military jargon and shorthand; there's not much likelihood that an old lady in Mississippi would know what "E.A." (enemy aircraft) or stabilizers (on an airplane) are. Fourth, his desensitization results in his giving perhaps more information than a grieving relative might want to hear. In short, he seems like a kind, overworked man with poor support from his superiors: "The E.A. outnumbered your son and had more height and speed which is our misfortune but no fault of the Government which would give us better machines if they had them which is no satisfaction to you" (530).