![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Casualties of War
Dec. 1st, 2006 10:43 pmI do not know the family in this article but I know many people who know them. I heard about this on Tuesday. Basically, a woman killed herself and her two year old and 3 month old daughter in their garage. Her husband, a battalion commander (fairly senior position) was deployed to Iraq. Joe knows many people who worked for him.
I suppose I am so bothered by this because a) I know people who know them, b) Joe was in Iraq, c) I have a small child, and d) I know how hard it is to be alone for so long. They say she was suffering from post-partum depression, but it's pretty depressing to have your husband in Iraq to begin with.
We have some visitors here. They arrived today and leave on Wednesday. It's Joe's old boss from Ft. Bragg, his daughter, and her friend. It's a work trip but I had dinner with them tonight to welcome them to the island. Joe's old boss (very senior guy at Bragg) got the call when they discovered the bodies and helped direct the notification of the husband/father. (Coincidentally, his daughter had a good friend die in Iraq a few days ago.) We only talked about it for a bit at dinner, but it really affected me. So much that I'm typing instead of sleeping.
I don't really know what to say. Children trust their mother to protect them. I'm sure this woman thought she was protecting her children or she wouldn't have taken them with her. I had an aunt who killed herself and her two kids this way (years before I was born) and the family has always assumed that something bad was happening to her and this was the only out she saw. I'm so sad that Faye Vick felt she had nowhere to turn. Military life is lonely. You move all the time and rarely have family around. Since her husband was the battalion commander, she probably had very few friends through his work. I'm sure she felt she had to be strong and a good example. She must have felt so empty inside and that makes me so sad for her.
On a totally different note, I had a really nice time at dinner, despite the sad news. Ellie was perfect and sat quietly on my lap the entire time - pretty rare. I really enjoyed talking to everyone. Still, I can't stop thinking about the Vicks. Another casualty of war, I think. Yeah, they weren't on the battlefield, but this should be counted in the total dead, I think. I wonder if Pres. Bush ever thinks about the consequences of his decisions. Yeah, soldiers and Iraqis die, but so do little 3 month old baby girls.
I suppose I am so bothered by this because a) I know people who know them, b) Joe was in Iraq, c) I have a small child, and d) I know how hard it is to be alone for so long. They say she was suffering from post-partum depression, but it's pretty depressing to have your husband in Iraq to begin with.
We have some visitors here. They arrived today and leave on Wednesday. It's Joe's old boss from Ft. Bragg, his daughter, and her friend. It's a work trip but I had dinner with them tonight to welcome them to the island. Joe's old boss (very senior guy at Bragg) got the call when they discovered the bodies and helped direct the notification of the husband/father. (Coincidentally, his daughter had a good friend die in Iraq a few days ago.) We only talked about it for a bit at dinner, but it really affected me. So much that I'm typing instead of sleeping.
I don't really know what to say. Children trust their mother to protect them. I'm sure this woman thought she was protecting her children or she wouldn't have taken them with her. I had an aunt who killed herself and her two kids this way (years before I was born) and the family has always assumed that something bad was happening to her and this was the only out she saw. I'm so sad that Faye Vick felt she had nowhere to turn. Military life is lonely. You move all the time and rarely have family around. Since her husband was the battalion commander, she probably had very few friends through his work. I'm sure she felt she had to be strong and a good example. She must have felt so empty inside and that makes me so sad for her.
On a totally different note, I had a really nice time at dinner, despite the sad news. Ellie was perfect and sat quietly on my lap the entire time - pretty rare. I really enjoyed talking to everyone. Still, I can't stop thinking about the Vicks. Another casualty of war, I think. Yeah, they weren't on the battlefield, but this should be counted in the total dead, I think. I wonder if Pres. Bush ever thinks about the consequences of his decisions. Yeah, soldiers and Iraqis die, but so do little 3 month old baby girls.