Woman Loses Father and Husband in Iraq
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James Joyner | Tuesday, February 1, 2005 |
Woman loses dad, husband in Iraq (CNN)
Less than a year ago, Tabitha Bonilla’s father gave his life for his country in Iraq. Last week, her husband gave his, too. Army Capt. Orlando A. Bonilla, 27, of Killeen, Texas, was killed Friday in a helicopter accident in Baghdad. Her father, Army Sgt. 1st Class Henry A. Bacon, 45, died last February in a vehicle accident.
Through tears and long pauses, Orlando Bonilla’s wife — and Henry Bacon’s daughter — tried to “do justice,” as she put it, to the two most important men in her life. “I stand behind my daddy and my husband, and I stand behind the job they had to do, and that’s my take on it,” she said. “I just support them, regardless of who sent them over there and why they sent them over there, no matter whether it’s for right or wrong reasons.”
[...]
Tabitha Bonilla’s mechanic father died when he was hit by one vehicle while making repairs on another in Dujayl, Iraq. Bacon, who joined the Army in 1982, had delayed his retirement to serve in the war on terrorism, relatives said. Bacon’s death delayed his son-in-law’s deployment to Iraq, but only for a few months.
How tragic. Many families lost multiple members in major wars of the past, notably the Civil War and World War II. Since Vietnam, though, and the end of conscription, it has to be a rare thing, indeed.
Update: Corrected title to reflect story. The original headline, “Woman Loses Father, Dad” was in the originial CNN Alert and article headline and I just copied it.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? --Benjamin Disraeli
--1804-1881, British Statesman, Prime Minister
Your headline is redundant, yet unclear.
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