In
February 2012, Gold Star Families of 109 Marines, soldiers, sailors or
airmen lost in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11 came to the Marines'
Memorial Club in San Francisco to network with each other and to help
each other with the grieving process. In the past seven years, we have
worked with more than 600 Gold Star families.
This
year, we invited Lieutenant General John Kelly, USMC to speak to the
Gold Star families. Gen Kelly and his wife, Karen, are also Gold Star
parents, having lost their son, 2ndLt Robert Kelly USMC, on 9 November
2010 in Afghanistan. Here are LtGen Kelly's remarks:
I
never met any of your loved ones… your sons and daughters, brothers and
sisters, and spouses. I also don’t know how you came to know they were
lost in the wars waged today and over the last ten years in Iraq,
Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen and dozens of other locations around the
world. I don’t know the details, but the stories are ultimately all the
same. Most often it started with a knock on the door, or a ring of the
doorbell in the early morning hours by a casualty officer who’d been
sitting outside your house waiting anxiously for hours for the first
lights to come on. He dreaded the mission he’d been assigned that day.
He was not glad to be there, but he was privileged to be there as the
duty is a sacred one. It is an honor to be called to do it. Most often
the casualty officer is a complete stranger. Sometimes he’s your best
friend. The minute you saw him standing there framed in the doorway you
knew…you knew without being told…before he uttered his first words…you
knew.
Go read the rest here:
