Homefront 911 by Stacy Bannerman

Author:Stacy Bannerman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Published: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Debra was buried next to Michael. George gave up after that. For a very long time, it was him, thoughts of suicide, and what felt like one-sided discussions with God, wondering if he was somehow to blame, asking why? When the answers didn’t come, George got involved in search-and-rescue efforts, looking for those who were lost.

A few states over, Rory Gavic had vanished. Rory was stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Layton, Utah. He’d served two tours, including one in Iraq, as a K-9 handler. He had earned numerous commendations, a nomination for Airman of the Year in 2008 among them, and developed PTSD after his deployments. Rory phoned his mother, Linda Sawatzke, on November 14, 2009, worrying her with the tone of his voice, according to a USA Today article by Kirsti Marohn. After he hung up, she called back repeatedly. Rory wouldn’t answer. The next call she got was from Utah officials who were searching for her son. The call after that was to let her know that they’d found her son’s truck in Antelope Island State Park. Rory’s body was discovered the following day.71

Four years after her son’s suicide, Sawatzke duplicated his death, shooting herself in the heart, as he had, using his 9mm handgun. Her obituary and directions for her funeral were left on the dining room table of her home in Buffalo, Minnesota. Mother and son are buried side by side in a small hilltop cemetery. The statue of a military service dog sits guarding the graves.

There is a river of grief that runs through the families of the veterans who’ve been wounded or killed in these wars, or who killed themselves when they came home. The families of military casualties, particularly the suicides and those with nonlethal injuries, have few resources and scant support. We tend our wounds in private, if at all, desperately holding on to what was, even as we struggle to accept what is. Most of us fumble our way forward, but when the river runs too wild and deep, some of us cannot.

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