A doctor is having dinner with his wife, mother and stepfather...an every-Wednesday-night occurence with this family. The mother makes mention about the doctor's deceased natural father, a war hero with an elite World War II strike force who perished in battle and is buried in a french military cemetary. Her son responds by saying that even though his natural dad was a hero, his stepfather was always there for him and that sometimes he feels the true heroes are those who go out and do their job every day, never giving up. It's obvious he loves his mother's husband as a true father.

Apparently the doctor doubles as a medical examiner, and he's called down to investigate the death of an alcoholic killed in a street fight. When he looks for marks to help identify the body he's stunned to see a tattoo with rattlesnakes and a lightning bolt...it's the insignia from his father's old unit. He convinces (and his stepfather agrees that it should happen) his mother to come down to ID the body...she knew some of her late husband's fellow servicemen. She's obviously quite distraught upon seeing the corpse, but identifies it as her late husband's commanding officer.

Her son thinks the body should have a hero's burial, so he contacts authorities in Washington to have the corpse interred in the national cementary. One problem...the man his mother identified has already been identified, and died, and was buried...years ago.

A good episode, this, even if it's got one CBS RMT twist I'm not yet sure I agree with...and it's got some good comments about families, as well. (My mom was adopted as an infant, and her loving adoptive family will always be my family...I can relate to the son in this episode.) 