The Loss of a Friend

Life came to a halt last night when my husband called and said he had bad news. I asked him what, and he wouldn't tell me. My mind raced over all the things it could be. I was not prepared for what he had to tell me. One of the guys he served with at Ft Riley died this last month. His vehicle was hit on Nov 9th, and he held on in Germany until right before Thanksgiving. His wife and mom were able to be there with him. He left behind his wife and 3 children.

As I have been processing this, I realize how lucky we have been. In the time that the war has been going on, this is the first time when someone we knew personally has been killed. When I see that someone has been injured or killed I always think how horrible it must be for them. I always feel blessed that it wasn't me or anyone I knew. That almost sounds horrible because every one of those people are someone's son, daughter, mom, dad, brother, sister, etc. They are all special to someone. This time it was someone I knew though. It was someone I had been around, got to know, and have wonderful memories of. My cousin just blogged about perspective, and I thought about it, but this really just made me think about it more.

I have not been one to always complain about my life, and my husband's job. I have always felt like God has put us where we need to be at the time we need to be there. We were not too excited to find out we were headed to Ft Riley when he first went into the Army. It was only 1 1/2 hours away from where we were leaving. Then when we got there, we found out my husband would be deploying soon. He was sent over with a bunch of guys he didn't know. Then I got a call about a Sgt who was riding him hard and wouldn't let up. Later in the deployment this same Sgt became a friend. This friend is the man who was killed. After meeting all the men and women my husband served with, I knew God knew what he was doing when he put him with them. I wouldn't have wanted my husband to be with anyone else. These men and women were great soldiers, and great people.

After he got home, my husband was up for promotion board. This same Sgt who was so hard on him was the first to stand up in the board and say why my husband deserved to get pinned Sgt so early in his "career." We would go over to his home and hang out. We would all go to dinner on many occasions. We would all hear stories about what went on while they were gone, and what all they had done to have fun together.

When this Sgt left Ft Riley, we had a surprise dinner for him. He was surprised that the group cared enough to do something like that. We gave him a plaque for his wall, and he gave a wonderful speech about how he was a Marine first, and all he wanted to do in his new unit was to have a sense of brotherhood. He had done just that. They were all brothers and sisters and did anything for each other. We never saw him again after that night. He and his family moved on to their new duty station after that. It was shortly after this, my husband and I moved on to his new assignment, recruiting.

We weren't happy about it, and it has been hard. I don't complain much about it. Again, I think God puts us where we need to be when we need to be there. I realize that being here, my husband cannot go to Iraq. I know sometimes he wishes he could, and I do too. The hours are long, the satisfaction isn't really that great in the job, and you can go from hero to zero in no time at all. Because of this though, it has kept my husband out of harms way. My husband and I both believe that when it is your time to go, it will be no matter what you are doing (deployed or just walking down the street getting the mail). However, him being here as kept those feelings out of my head.

The world is a better place because this man put us before himself. Our family has been blessed just from knowing him and his family. I am going to put a link to an article about him. Please keep his family and friends in your prayers. They can use all of the prayers they can get. Link to article