Latest news with #WeWereSoldiers
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Remembering Julie Moore, the civilian who helped change military protocol
When Kisha Patterson last spoke to her husband, Esau, it was an ordinary conversation under extraordinary circumstances. "We talked that morning," she said. "It was like any other day. He was like, 'Hey, I'll call you back.' I was like, 'Okay.' You know, not thinking too much of it, kind of took it for granted." In April of 2004, Army Staff Sergeant Esau Patterson was serving in Iraq. They'd met years earlier in church, at Ft. Benning in Georgia. They got married, had two children, and were planning a family reunion for when he returned. But then came a knock at the door. "And there's two uniformed service members standing there," said Kisha. "And they looked at me, and I could see tears in their eyes, and that's when I knew." A car bomb had killed her husband. He was 25 years old. "I would never get to say goodbye," she said. "I would never get to touch him. I would never get to do anything else." I asked, "What did it mean to you to have service members there with you?" "It meant that what he died for was okay, that he was truly protecting and serving this country," Kisha replied. Those soldiers were carrying out a solemn duty that had not always been performed. During the Civil War, the military had no formal casualty notification system. Occasionally families would receive a letter. By World War I and through the Vietnam War, the military was sending telegrams, until an Army wife named Julia Moore (known as Julie) stepped in. "She completely changed the culture of the military," said her son, Greg Moore. "In 1965, during the Battle of the Ia Drang, death notices were delivered to spouses by telegrams and taxicabs. Cold, cruel, dispassionate. She was outraged." Julie Moore's husband, Hal, was a highly-regarded Lt. Colonel then serving in Vietnam when, as she described in a letter, a taxi driver pulled up to her house: "When he rang the bell I decided not to answer; that way, everything would be all right," she wrote. "I finally said to myself, 'Come on, Julie, you have to face up to what's to come, so go answer the door." It turned out, the driver needed directions. Greg Moore said, "At that moment, she knew what it felt to get that telegram, and she never wanted to have anybody else get that telegram and not have somebody physically with them." So, Julie Moore made a deal with the local Western Union office: they would call her whenever a telegram came. The 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers" portrayed how Julie Moore would rush to comfort the widows. Even as she cared for her five young children, Moore helped other Army wives on the home front, as she recounted in a 2001 interview: "I think people forget that these men had families. And these families had problems. And the wives are left alone to deal with them as best they can. And these women were really up to the task. They really were." Together, the Army wives successfully lobbied the base commander. Julie's son Dave Moore said, "What they really wanted was the Army to make a fundamental change, which they did, in that the Army should take responsibility for delivering these telegrams to the wives and personally care for the spouse during that time of cathartic change." Service members now notify families in person, and offer additional support. When Army Sgt. First Class Kendrick Ray delivered a casualty notification in 2021, it was a sacred mission. Now, he helps families in the days after. Asked what goes through his mind before he knocks on the door, Ray replied, "I just said a prayer, like, 'How can I be of service to this family? I don't know what they're going through, but give me strength to, you know, face whatever it is once I ring the doorbell.' "I believe now it's my purpose," he said. "I can let people know, like, 'Hey, you're not alone. we're right here with you, every step of the way.'" Julie Moore died in 2004. Her husband died 13 years later. In 2023, the Pentagon renamed Ft. Benning Ft. Moore to honor them both. It marked the first time an American military base had been named for a civilian. Dave Moore said, "It's not a legacy she asked for; it's a legacy she built herself towards. And the hero rises to a moment and achieves great things." This year, the Army post was re-named Ft. Benning. But just down the road, at the National Infantry Museum, her name endures. I asked Kisha Patterson, "When you think about what she did, what comes to your mind?" "She's phenomenal," Patterson replied. "I can't imagine having received a telegram with that information on it. So, I just thank her. There're husbands that endure this same pain. There are mothers and fathers, there are children that get these knocks. So, she has, yes, she has truly made a difference for all of us." For more info: National Infantry Museum, Columbus, Ga. Story produced by Robbyn McFadden. Editor: Joseph Frandino. 4 women arrested for allegedly aiding escaped New Orleans inmates Full interview: World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain Open: This is "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 25, 2025
American Press
06-05-2025
- General
- American Press
Veterans, family, community gather to honor life, sacrifice of Elton soldier
Sandria Doyle still remembers when her brother, Specialist 4 Albert 'Billy' Sonnier, visited home while in the military and before deploying to Vietnam as an infantryman in 'Charlie' Company of the legendary 1st Cavalry Division. Even as a young girl, Doyle remembers her older brother as a cool, intelligent, quiet spirit with a huge heart. 'I may have been young when he was killed in Vietnam, but I can remember him coming home in that uniform and being so proud to be a soldier, and he always had a gift for me,' she said. Sonnier, a native of Elton and a 1960 graduate of Katie B. Thomas High School in Elton, died during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Vietnam War. A special ceremony to commemorate his service and sacrifice was held Saturday at the First Baptist Church in Jennings. Several veterans of the famous battle, including Medal of Honor recipient retired Army Col. Joe Marm, attended the event to honor Sonnier. The battle, which was an intense conflict of the Vietnam War, was the focus of the book and film 'We Were Soldiers.' Doyle recounted how her brother would write letters home, sharing his experiences and asking for prayers for himself and his fellow soldiers. His final letter indicated he wouldn't be writing for a while but still requested their continued prayers. Soon after, the family received the heartbreaking news of his death. Doyle, who was 10 at the time, remembers the somber visit of two uniformed military personnel who delivered the devastating news to her mother and father. Sonnier had been mortally wounded while defending his position under enemy fire. Notably, all four of Doyle's brothers served their country, with one also being wounded in Vietnam. During the ceremony, Doyle and her sister Joann White, expressed how deeply it meant to have their brother remembered and honored, saying he was truly deserving of such recognition. 'We are here to honor the memory of Albert W. Billy Sonnier, who gave his life in the defense of his country, and in the very real way, we are here to pay tribute to all the men and women who sacrifice so much that we might be free,' former journalist and author Dave Precht said. Precht noted that the 24-year-old soldier's courageous actions were crucial in repelling the enemy attack. 'Billy Sonnier in my research was a dedicated soldier,' said Col. (Ret.) Joey Strickland, former deputy secretary of Louisiana Veterans Affairs and a Vietnam combat veteran. 'A young man who was not only a fighter, but a beacon of hope for his battle buddies, a source of inspiration, amid the turmoil….Sonnier was known by his fellow soldiers for the ability to uplift and energize those around him.' Sonnier was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and Purple Heart. The ceremony also paid tribute to Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Barrett, who served as a squad leader with the same company as Sonnier. Barrett grew up in Many, La., only 110 miles from Sonnier's hometown. Despite more than a decade difference in their enlistment dates, both men served in the same battalion, platoon, company, and squad, and tragically, they were killed on the same day in Vietnam. They were also the only two men from Louisiana in Lt. Col. Hal Moore's battalion killed during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley at Landing Zone X-Ray in 1965. Thomas Barrett III, Barrett's son who was only 5 when his father died, shared his experience of growing up with the profound silence of never having known his father. He followed his father's footsteps, becoming an infantryman and officer. 'While many children of veterans grow up hearing stories that were hard to tell, I grew with a different kind of silence, the absence of a voice that was silenced in the Ia Drang Valley on 15th November 1865, exactly seven days after his 34th birthday,' Barrett said. 'My father, like many veterans, answered the call to serve,' he continued. 'The photographs, letters and stories shared by those who fought alongside him have been my only window into knowing who he was. Through your eyes and memories, I pieced together the man who would have raised me, his courage, his loyalty to his brothers in arms and his sense of duty.' Barrett stressed the vital role of those who returned home in keeping the memories of the fallen alive by sharing their stories. 'Each time you share a memory of my father or your brothers who didn't come home, you give us the gift of knowing them a little better,' he said. 'To the families, who like mine, bear the Gold Star, who share a bond forged in sacrifice. Though decades have passed, the cost paid in the Ia Drang Valley remains ever present in our lives.' The memory and legacy of the soldiers of Ia Drang Valley live on not just in military records and history books, but through honoring their lives by striving to live in a way that reflects their sacrifice, he said. During the event, Marm presented members of the 1st Cavalry with special leather-bound copies of the 'We Were Soldiers Once….and Young.'
