WEBVTT

00:00:48.100 --> 00:00:52.601
I\'m Irving Spry. Nicholas Spry is my son.

00:00:52.601 --> 00:00:53.501
When he left here,

00:00:53.501 --> 00:00:56.400
he left Fort Bragg on Sunday night at 9 o\'clock.

00:00:56.400 --> 00:00:59.567
And they stop over in Spain and then they fly on in to Baghdad.

00:01:00.901 --> 00:01:02.834
Baghdad\'s a war zone.

00:01:02.834 --> 00:01:06.801
When they hit the tarmac they were loading their weapons.

00:01:06.801 --> 00:01:10.767
He was in country two days and they got in their first firefight

00:01:10.767 --> 00:01:12.200
and he killed three people.

00:01:12.934 --> 00:01:16.767
There\'s days when there was a bombing on TV

00:01:16.767 --> 00:01:19.234
and you\'d go to work and you\'d wonder all day.

00:01:19.234 --> 00:01:20.834
That night you\'d get home and turn the news on

00:01:20.834 --> 00:01:22.634
and find out it was from another outfit.

00:01:23.434 --> 00:01:25.567
So the first thing you feel is relief

00:01:25.567 --> 00:01:26.934
that it wasn\'t you.

00:01:27.267 --> 00:01:30.400
Then, the next instant you feel the same gut feeling that

00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.400
someone else\'s family is going to get the news, you know?

00:01:34.567 --> 00:01:38.000
My name is Beverly Fabri. I\'m Nick Spry\'s mom.

00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.501
I mean, he was only eight months out of high school.

00:01:40.501 --> 00:01:41.901
The day he left for Fort Bragg

00:01:41.901 --> 00:01:44.133
was the first time he had ever driven over the Bay Bridge.

00:01:45.100 --> 00:01:48.334
He\'s very proud yet very ashamed of what he was doing.

00:01:48.334 --> 00:01:51.434
He knew he was going to do right,

00:01:51.434 --> 00:01:55.300
but he couldn\'t get past his mind that killing was wrong.

00:01:55.300 --> 00:02:00.200
A car pulled up in front of our house at 11:15 at night

00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.300
on Valentine\'s Day.

00:02:02.300 --> 00:02:05.100
We were just getting ready to go to bed.

00:02:05.100 --> 00:02:08.634
And about that time they walked into the porch light

00:02:08.634 --> 00:02:10.901
and I saw a man in his dress uniform.

00:02:11.467 --> 00:02:12.901
I didn\'t say anything to him.

00:02:12.901 --> 00:02:14.601
I just turned around and walked in the house

00:02:14.601 --> 00:02:16.467
and I told my husband and Nick\'s girlfriend.

00:02:16.467 --> 00:02:18.467
I said, Nick\'s dead.

00:02:18.467 --> 00:02:20.300
He\'s been killed.

00:02:20.300 --> 00:02:23.634
Tried to tell us what happened and that was it.

00:02:25.934 --> 00:02:28.901
He was 538.

00:02:28.901 --> 00:02:31.701
Number will be burned in your head forever.

00:02:28.901 --> 00:02:37.567
Every time I go to his gravesite, something new is added.

00:02:37.567 --> 00:02:39.567
The day after the prom,

00:02:39.567 --> 00:02:42.200
there were several corsages, boutonnieres,

00:02:42.200 --> 00:02:44.234
because I know that\'s where they went after the prom.

00:02:44.234 --> 00:02:46.567
They went to his grave.

00:02:46.567 --> 00:02:49.467
had a bad feeling before he left

00:02:49.467 --> 00:02:52.367
that he didn\'t realize how bad it was going to be.

00:02:52.367 --> 00:02:54.467
If he\'d gotten back alive

00:02:54.467 --> 00:02:57.868
he never would be the same person anyway, obviously,

00:02:57.868 --> 00:03:00.100
because of what he\'d seen, what he\'d already done.

00:03:00.100 --> 00:03:03.000
When I was down in Fort Bragg the day he left,

00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:04.701
he and I went for a little walk.

00:03:04.701 --> 00:03:06.300
I told him, I did.

00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:07.734
I knew in my heart

00:03:10.701 --> 00:03:15.670
He was too gung-ho to do a good job.

00:03:15.367 --> 00:03:18.300
And I came home and started planning his funeral.

00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:20.834
I had all his songs planned out.

00:03:20.834 --> 00:03:22.601
I knew where I wanted him buried.

00:03:23.501 --> 00:03:25.467
But until I said it out loud

00:03:25.467 --> 00:03:27.234
to Nick\'s Dad,

00:03:27.234 --> 00:03:29.834
but when I said it, he said that he had the same feeling.

00:03:31.234 --> 00:03:33.467
He knew he wasn\'t coming home.

00:03:31.234 --> 00:03:40.667
I used to always ask him, when we gonna get married?

00:03:40.667 --> 00:03:43.601
Yo\' man, you know, calm down, sooner or later.

00:03:43.601 --> 00:03:45.667
Because you know he was in Iraq at that time.

00:03:45.667 --> 00:03:48.234
Then he\'s like, you know, I\'ve been thinking

00:03:48.234 --> 00:03:49.734
about a lot with us.

00:03:49.734 --> 00:03:53.133
And from the tone of the voice and just those little words,

00:03:53.133 --> 00:03:55.000
I already knew it was coming.

00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:57.267
And he was like I don\'t have long to talk so

00:03:57.267 --> 00:03:59.534
I basically just called to ask you that.

00:03:59.534 --> 00:04:02.934
I was like, Yes I will, I will, OK!

00:03:59.534 --> 00:04:05.367
He was a responsible kid.

00:04:05.367 --> 00:04:08.400
And he always told me when he was young that

00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.200
he was going to take care of me. You know, he was...

00:04:11.200 --> 00:04:14.400
Now I\'m about to cry.

00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.601
He always told me that he was going to take care of me and

00:04:17.601 --> 00:04:20.801
no matter what I was going to be alright in life.

00:04:21.567 --> 00:04:24.330
He was telling me he had to go to Iraq

00:04:24.330 --> 00:04:26.801
and I was telling him to tell them that he was the only son,

00:04:27.367 --> 00:04:28.501
that he couldn\'t go.

00:04:28.501 --> 00:04:30.901
But he told me he signed up and he had to go.

00:04:31.567 --> 00:04:36.234
And he said, but don\'t worry about it. It\'s going to be alright

00:04:36.234 --> 00:04:38.167
When he left it took about three months

00:04:38.167 --> 00:04:38.734
before I heard from him.

00:04:38.734 --> 00:04:40.367
I called everybody.

00:04:40.367 --> 00:04:43.670
And they told me if nobody came to my door

00:04:43.670 --> 00:04:45.501
everything was going to be alright.

00:04:45.501 --> 00:04:48.670
And then when they came to my door

00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:50.330
I was here by myself.

00:04:50.330 --> 00:04:52.000
It was the worst feeling of my life.

00:04:53.601 --> 00:04:56.767
Sergeant came to the door. And he asked for me.

00:04:56.767 --> 00:05:01.200
And I said, No, you\'re not here to tell me nothing.

00:05:01.200 --> 00:05:02.801
And he said, Can I come in? I said, No.

00:05:02.801 --> 00:05:04.734
Nothing happen to my son, did it?

00:05:04.734 --> 00:05:07.868
And he asked me to come in. He kept asking so I said, Yeah.

00:05:07.868 --> 00:05:10.634
And then once he got in he told me something happened.

00:05:10.634 --> 00:05:13.400
I was like, No he\'s just hurt. He\'s not dead.

00:05:13.400 --> 00:05:15.267
I told him to go home and

00:05:15.267 --> 00:05:17.901
ome back tomorrow and tell me that everything is OK,

00:05:17.901 --> 00:05:20.000
but you got the wrong person.

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:23.701
\'Cause it\'s not his time. It wasn\'t his time.

00:05:29.334 --> 00:05:31.133
The hardest time is

00:05:31.133 --> 00:05:34.300
like if I see, you know, somebody with their kids,

00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:35.934
or when we have family functions

00:05:35.934 --> 00:05:38.534
and you know I see all my family members with their kids

00:05:38.534 --> 00:05:40.467
its kind of hard.

00:05:38.534 --> 00:05:44.100
I don\'t like looking at the news \'cause it\'s hard, too.

00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:45.200
\'Cause I get so upset.

00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:47.567
I\'m like why don\'t you just want to bring our kids home?

00:05:47.567 --> 00:05:50.567
You know it\'s too many kids dying.

00:05:50.567 --> 00:05:54.901
And I get so hurt because I can\'t make another son.

00:05:54.901 --> 00:05:57.400
He was one of those kids that, it\'s like everybody

00:05:57.400 --> 00:05:59.567
wished they had a kid like him.

00:05:59.567 --> 00:06:04.634
Mannerable, respectful, never got in trouble.

00:06:04.634 --> 00:06:07.868
And he enjoyed life. He enjoyed life.

00:06:07.868 --> 00:06:10.234
So I\'m angry because that was my buddy.

00:06:10.234 --> 00:06:13.634
And every time I get depressed, and when I talk to him I\'m OK.

00:06:13.634 --> 00:06:14.968
\'Cause he was always the one that said,

00:06:14.968 --> 00:06:17.133
OK. Mom, it\'s going to be alright.

00:06:17.133 --> 00:06:18.100
No matter what it was

00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:20.767
he would always be the one to calm me down.

00:06:20.767 --> 00:06:26.834
But now it\'s just me, my husband and my daughter.

00:06:31.868 --> 00:06:33.501
I\'m Pat Mracek.

00:06:33.501 --> 00:06:37.000
I\'m the mom of Sergeant Cory Ryan Mracek.

00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:39.934
I watch the news a lot.

00:06:39.934 --> 00:06:41.801
And the Saturday before this happened they

00:06:42.400 --> 00:06:45.901
said that three from the 82nd had been killed.

00:06:45.901 --> 00:06:48.467
I was pretty much teary all day.

00:06:48.467 --> 00:06:50.330
And so, on Tuesday

00:06:50.567 --> 00:06:52.100
I hadn\'t heard

00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:54.934
that there was three more that were killed.

00:06:55.801 --> 00:06:58.400
And I was working my second job at the nursing home.

00:06:58.400 --> 00:07:00.667
And about that time the policeman walks in the door


00:07:00.667 --> 00:07:01.467
and I just knew.

00:07:02.634 --> 00:07:05.330
A couple of the people from the nursing home

00:07:05.330 --> 00:07:07.367
offered to drive me home but I just wanted to be alone.

00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:10.801
\'Cause in the back of my mind I kept thinking

00:07:10.801 --> 00:07:13.200
maybe it\'s not so bad.

00:07:13.200 --> 00:07:16.334
He just felt that that\'s what he\'d been trained for

00:07:16.334 --> 00:07:17.767
and that\'s what he needed to do.

00:07:18.200 --> 00:07:19.734
He was a soldier and

00:07:19.734 --> 00:07:22.670
we really need to take care of these things.

00:07:22.834 --> 00:07:24.634
\'Cause he said that if we don\'t get \'em

00:07:24.634 --> 00:07:26.100
over there, they\'re gonna get us here.

00:07:26.200 --> 00:07:28.300
We need to stop it and I need to help.

00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:30.300
Exactly what he thought.

00:07:31.167 --> 00:07:33.968
We sat out in the living room one day and I said I know

00:07:33.968 --> 00:07:36.534
you don\'t want to talk about this, but we need to.

00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:40.834
He just said, Oh, mom. Nothing is gonna happen.

00:07:40.834 --> 00:07:43.100
Just asked him if something did happen what

00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:45.670
he would want us to do.

00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:48.133
There\'s any special songs or anything.

00:07:48.133 --> 00:07:51.330
He just said he\'d like to be buried at Arlington and

00:07:51.330 --> 00:07:52.934
he didn\'t want the VFW guys there.

00:07:52.934 --> 00:07:55.868
He wanted his own Airborne guys to come.

00:07:57.670 --> 00:07:58.834
That was it.

00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:03.200
They had time to move those weapons.

00:08:03.200 --> 00:08:05.234
And gosh, they have so much sand over there

00:08:05.234 --> 00:08:06.934
if they buried them in the sand and

00:08:06.934 --> 00:08:08.901
and the sandstorm changed the scenery,

00:08:08.901 --> 00:08:10.868
they might not even know where the\'re at.

00:08:08.901 --> 00:08:14.634
But I think they\'re going to find something.

00:08:14.634 --> 00:08:16.133
I believe they will.

00:08:16.133 --> 00:08:18.400
And if they don\'t sometimes you just need to believe that

00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:20.534
ou\'re not going to see everything in life.

00:08:20.534 --> 00:08:22.567
You just need to believe sometimes.

00:08:22.567 --> 00:08:24.901
There are a lot of smart people in the United States

00:08:24.901 --> 00:08:26.300
and they weren\'t all wrong.

00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:27.601
I don\'t care if they found them or not,

00:08:27.601 --> 00:08:29.467
they\'re not all wrong.

00:08:30.834 --> 00:08:33.567
And even that prison abuse thing.

00:08:33.567 --> 00:08:35.100
I mean, My god they,

00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:37.100
they did things to \'em, but they didn\'t really

00:08:37.100 --> 00:08:40.330
abuse them, you know?

00:08:40.330 --> 00:08:43.634
I wish my son had been at that prison and he\'d just had

00:08:43.634 --> 00:08:45.667
underwear over his head or whatever it was,

00:08:45.667 --> 00:08:47.434
cause he\'d be coming home.

00:08:49.234 --> 00:08:52.701
His things came home and I, I should

00:08:52.701 --> 00:08:54.501
give them away or do something with them,

00:08:54.501 --> 00:08:56.501
but I just keep thinking

00:08:56.501 --> 00:08:59.834
he\'s gonna come home someday and want \'em.

00:08:59.834 --> 00:09:00.934
And he\'s not.

00:09:05.968 --> 00:09:08.467
When he would call me when he was in Iraq,

00:09:08.467 --> 00:09:10.501
I\'d always tell him how proud I was of him.

00:09:10.767 --> 00:09:14.367
I was proud to be his mom. I was proud of the man he became.

00:09:15.868 --> 00:09:18.567
He said, Mama, promise me you\'ll never let

00:09:18.567 --> 00:09:20.634
my little brothers and my little sisters go.

00:09:20.634 --> 00:09:22.400
He said, That\'s why I\'m here doing this

00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:25.434
so my little brothers and my sisters won\'t see this firsthand.

00:09:25.434 --> 00:09:27.367
He said, I\'m doing it.

00:09:27.367 --> 00:09:30.400
I promised him I wouldn\'t let them go.

00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:32.868
Two days before I got the message that he passed away

00:09:32.868 --> 00:09:35.334
I felt something was wrong, I could feel it.

00:09:35.334 --> 00:09:36.634
I begin to pray,

00:09:36.634 --> 00:09:38.901
Lord whatever it is he\'s going through right now,

00:09:38.901 --> 00:09:41.267
watch over him and keep him safe.

00:09:41.267 --> 00:09:43.467
It was just a feeling way down deep

00:09:43.467 --> 00:09:45.634
that you know something is wrong somewhere and

00:09:45.634 --> 00:09:48.434
that you know something is wrong somewhere and

00:09:48.434 --> 00:09:51.901
Four doors opened in unison and four officers stepped out,

00:09:52.434 --> 00:09:55.133
I said what\'s the matter? Where\'s my baby?

00:09:55.434 --> 00:09:57.167
Master Sergeant looked at me, he said,

00:09:57.167 --> 00:09:59.400
We\'re here to tell you your son was killed in battle this morning.

00:09:57.167 --> 00:10:03.400
I knew when I seen him what was the matter.

00:10:03.400 --> 00:10:06.934
They told me that he was advancing on this farmhouse,

00:10:06.934 --> 00:10:09.434
and one Marine went in and went down,

00:10:09.434 --> 00:10:12.567
another went in and went down.

00:10:12.567 --> 00:10:15.330
When Josh seen that second man go down,

00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:17.467
they said that he ran from the group

00:10:17.467 --> 00:10:21.100
and drew fire towards him so the wounded could get out.

00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:23.601
Then, the gunfire stopped.

00:10:23.601 --> 00:10:27.701
They got the wounded out but my son lost his life.

00:10:23.601 --> 00:10:31.734
The day of his funeral was the saddest day of my life.

00:10:23.601 --> 00:10:47.670
I\'ll never get to hear him say mom again.

00:10:47.670 --> 00:10:50.133
It\'s made me hate a country I know nothing about.

00:10:52.634 --> 00:10:54.567
The constant heartache that nobody

00:10:54.567 --> 00:10:58.567
can say or do anything to make me feel any better.

00:10:58.567 --> 00:11:01.334
And I know he\'s in God\'s hands now.

00:11:01.334 --> 00:11:03.934
And that doesn\'t ease the pain,

00:11:03.934 --> 00:11:05.734
the loneliness.

00:11:05.734 --> 00:11:08.667
I ain\'t got over and I don\'t know if I\'ll ever get over it.

00:11:14.434 --> 00:11:18.501
I heard the ship that he was on is due back in tomorrow.

00:11:18.501 --> 00:11:20.267
It should be a happy time for us

00:11:20.267 --> 00:11:22.934
We should be excited \'cause he should be coming home.

00:11:20.267 --> 00:11:37.901
I was really shocked that he made it through boot camp.

00:11:38.934 --> 00:11:41.567
Being as gentle and as quiet as he was.

00:11:41.567 --> 00:11:43.100
He was very sensitive.

00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:46.000
And after 9/11, he decided he wanted toa

00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:47.467
join the Guards again.

00:11:47.467 --> 00:11:50.934
So he talked to me about it for quite a while one day.

00:11:50.934 --> 00:11:53.000
He ended up as a tank mechanic.

00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:54.701
He found that quite interesting.

00:11:54.701 --> 00:11:58.534
He cherishes his family and he loves his kids.

00:11:58.534 --> 00:12:00.801
And it was hard for him to leave them.

00:12:00.801 --> 00:12:04.267
I think the hardest thing over there was all of the little kids

00:12:04.267 --> 00:12:06.300
that were in there begging for water and food

00:12:06.300 --> 00:12:07.467
and they couldn\'t do anything about it.

00:12:07.467 --> 00:12:09.567
They couldn\'t stop. That really bothered him.

00:12:09.567 --> 00:12:12.334
He wouldn\'t tell us a lot in detail what it was like over there

00:12:12.334 --> 00:12:13.501
because he said he didn\'t want to worry

00:12:13.501 --> 00:12:14.634
his mother and his wife.

00:12:14.634 --> 00:12:19.734
Last time I talked to him, we were painting his house.

00:12:19.734 --> 00:12:22.200
And he just said, I love you and

00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.734
I told him I loved him, too, and to

00:12:24.734 --> 00:12:26.670
see him later.

00:12:26.670 --> 00:12:29.334
Because he was saying he\'d be home in December.

00:12:26.670 --> 00:12:33.133
I was at work. Out in the shop.

00:12:33.133 --> 00:12:34.434
And one of the guys come out and said,

00:12:34.434 --> 00:12:36.434
There\'s a couple of guys from the guards

00:12:36.434 --> 00:12:38.200
out in the lunchroom to see you.

00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.467
I got about halfway there and I realized what it probably was.

00:12:43.467 --> 00:12:45.934
And when I got in the lunchroom,

00:12:45.934 --> 00:12:47.701
it wasn\'t anybody I knew, so.

00:12:48.968 --> 00:12:50.901
And when they told me,

00:12:48.968 --> 00:12:53.267
it takes the wind out of you,

00:12:53.267 --> 00:12:54.667
and it takes the legs out from underneath you

00:12:54.667 --> 00:12:56.868
when you get that news.

00:13:00.868 --> 00:13:03.834
The whole community, they were great.

00:13:03.834 --> 00:13:04.868
It was amazing

00:13:04.868 --> 00:13:07.133
how many people would stop by to say hi

00:13:07.133 --> 00:13:09.133
or bring something down.

00:13:07.133 --> 00:13:12.133
I miss him.

00:13:12.133 --> 00:13:16.767
But, he\'ll always be in my heart.

00:13:16.767 --> 00:13:18.601
In my memories.

00:13:18.601 --> 00:13:21.501
And I am very proud of him.

00:13:21.501 --> 00:13:23.567
Very proud of him.


00:13:30.734 --> 00:13:32.901
I\'m Peter Dooley. I\'m Mark\'s father.

00:13:32.901 --> 00:13:34.801
My name is Marianne Dooley.

00:13:34.801 --> 00:13:37.467
Mark was our son that was killed in Iraq.

00:13:37.467 --> 00:13:39.434
Very young Mark believed that

00:13:39.434 --> 00:13:41.167
right and wrong was important.

00:13:42.167 --> 00:13:43.434
He always had

00:13:43.434 --> 00:13:45.300
a strong value that whatever you do for one person,

00:13:45.300 --> 00:13:47.670
it should be fair for all people.

00:13:47.670 --> 00:13:50.767
I believe that Mark took his values with him

00:13:50.767 --> 00:13:52.234
definitely in to the war.

00:13:53.133 --> 00:13:56.000
He felt he was keeping the terrorists from our country,

00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:57.767
from the other countries around the world

00:13:57.767 --> 00:13:59.734
and from harming the people from where they were.

00:13:59.734 --> 00:14:03.100
The explosion that killed Mark occurred instantly.

00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:05.534
One second he was here on Earth

00:14:05.534 --> 00:14:07.467
and the next minute with God.

00:14:07.467 --> 00:14:09.501
I\'m sure looking down from heaven

00:14:09.501 --> 00:14:10.634
he would just swell with pride

00:14:11.601 --> 00:14:14.100
at all the people out there who knew him and loved him

00:14:14.534 --> 00:14:18.300
and honored him and what he tried to achieve.

00:14:18.300 --> 00:14:20.901
We had come back from the funeral

00:14:20.901 --> 00:14:23.601
and we had just returned on a Monday night

00:14:23.601 --> 00:14:25.400
and I played the messages on the machine

00:14:25.400 --> 00:14:27.670
and this one was the first one I came across.

00:14:27.670 --> 00:14:31.434
Saturday, 5:08 p.m.

00:14:31.434 --> 00:14:32.701
Hey, guys. It\'s me.

00:14:32.701 --> 00:14:34.868
Sorry I missed you. Not home.

00:14:34.868 --> 00:14:36.167
It\'s a quarter-after-one here

00:14:36.167 --> 00:14:39.000
so I don\'t know what time it is there, but...

00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:40.100
Anyways, just calling to say hello

00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:42.670
and see how things are going.

00:14:42.670 --> 00:14:42.901
Things are going good.

00:14:42.901 --> 00:14:43.701
Boys are well.

00:14:43.701 --> 00:14:44.934
Anyways, love you both

00:14:44.934 --> 00:14:46.567
and I\'ll call you again soon.

00:14:46.567 --> 00:14:48.534
OK, bye.

00:14:51.670 --> 00:14:53.701
Mark wrote a letter called \"In My Absence\"

00:14:53.701 --> 00:14:55.968
and he said that should he not return,

00:14:55.968 --> 00:14:58.434
this would be what we were to open.

00:14:58.434 --> 00:15:00.267
Mom,

00:15:00.267 --> 00:15:04.300
I have no delusions that reading or even hearing this letter

00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:06.601
can fill my absence.

00:15:06.601 --> 00:15:09.300
Please forgive me for not being able to be there,

00:15:09.300 --> 00:15:11.200
but also remember my leaving

00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:13.634
was in the service of something that we loved.

00:15:13.634 --> 00:15:16.734
Don\'t be angry or let sadness dominate your heart.

00:15:16.734 --> 00:15:17.701
Be proud.

00:15:18.334 --> 00:15:21.701
Time will ease the pain and the best way to pay respect

00:15:21.701 --> 00:15:24.100
is to value why a sacrifice was made.

00:15:24.767 --> 00:15:25.834
My last request

00:15:25.834 --> 00:15:28.801
is that you continue to live fulfilling, happy lives

00:15:28.801 --> 00:15:31.300
with God\'s hands holding you safely.

00:15:31.300 --> 00:15:34.300
I will see you all in God\'s perfect time.

00:15:34.300 --> 00:15:37.801
With loving affection and endearment, Mark.

00:15:44.767 --> 00:15:47.467
I really do believe in love at first sight.

00:15:47.467 --> 00:15:49.434
I really do believe in soul mates.

00:15:49.434 --> 00:15:52.330
At a young age I experienced it.

00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:54.334
He always liked the military.

00:15:54.334 --> 00:15:55.834
Like ever since we were 18,

00:15:55.834 --> 00:15:58.300
but I always said, No, no, no, no, no.

00:15:58.300 --> 00:16:01.601
After 9/11, that\'s what really pushed him.

00:16:01.601 --> 00:16:04.734
He felt like it was his duty as an American

00:16:04.734 --> 00:16:06.567
to try to do something.

00:16:06.567 --> 00:16:09.834
I still remember those two men ringing my doorbell

00:16:09.834 --> 00:16:11.400
and my mother-in-law looked out the window

00:16:11.400 --> 00:16:11.767
and she said

00:16:11.767 --> 00:16:14.701
there\'s two guys in military uniforms

00:16:14.701 --> 00:16:17.330
outside asking for you.

00:16:17.330 --> 00:16:19.300
When I go answer the door and I see the guys\' eyes

00:16:19.300 --> 00:16:21.133
I never forget them.

00:16:21.133 --> 00:16:22.534
I remember telling him,

00:16:22.534 --> 00:16:23.501
please just tell me that he\'s hurt.

00:16:25.670 --> 00:16:26.901
Please don\'t tell me.

00:16:26.901 --> 00:16:29.200
It\'s like no tears came out.

00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:31.467
And I was just in like in a state of shock.

00:16:31.467 --> 00:16:33.670
I kept on screaming,

00:16:33.670 --> 00:16:35.167
why did they take him from me?

00:16:35.167 --> 00:16:36.767
Why is this happening to me?

00:16:36.767 --> 00:16:39.133
I kept on screaming it on and on.

00:16:39.133 --> 00:16:41.133
And I remember that night I just

00:16:41.133 --> 00:16:44.968
couldn\'t sleep cause I looked at the side of my bed

00:16:44.968 --> 00:16:47.434
and it felt so empty his side.

00:16:48.400 --> 00:16:50.767
I never thought I would be a single mom

00:16:51.133 --> 00:16:53.801
and now I\'m have to like raise my,

00:16:53.801 --> 00:16:56.901
my sons, you know, Manny and Marcus, all alone

00:16:56.901 --> 00:16:58.834
and that hurts me so much.

00:16:58.834 --> 00:17:02.501
And I know that\'s something that he never wanted for his boys

00:17:02.501 --> 00:17:06.968
because he was raised in a single mom environment.

00:17:06.968 --> 00:17:08.701
He wanted to be there, you know,

00:17:08.701 --> 00:17:12.400
for graduations and birthdays and holidays.

00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.901
Now, I\'m going to have to experience that all on my own.

00:17:15.901 --> 00:17:20.670
My four-year-old, he comes and he tells me, Mom,

00:17:20.670 --> 00:17:23.330
Daddy\'s in heaven, he\'s gone.

00:17:23.330 --> 00:17:24.667
He was like, do you still love Daddy?

00:17:24.667 --> 00:17:26.601
And I said always. He goes,

00:17:26.601 --> 00:17:28.000
I love him too.

00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.400
As a parent, you wish you could give your boys everything.

00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.868
And sometimes I wish so much I could just

00:17:34.868 --> 00:17:36.767
bring their father back.

00:17:36.767 --> 00:17:38.767
Right now it\'s so hard cause I have to

00:17:38.767 --> 00:17:40.968
deal with the reality that

00:17:40.968 --> 00:17:43.767
I\'ll never ever, ever see him again.