By Sergeant 1st Class Pete Mayes
101st Sustainment Brigade
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., November 16, 2009 – Heidi Nutt said she never thought she’d be a widow by the age of 32. Ed and Bonnie Brown said they never thought they’d bury one of their children.
“It’s just not natural,” Bonnie Hunt said.
The two families were drawn together Nov. 12 as the 101st Sustainment Brigade paid tribute to their fallen Soldiers at a special Memorial Ceremony conducted at the Brigade headquarters.
The Brown’s youngest son, Private First Class John E. Brown, was killed April 14, 2003, at the age of 21 in Iraq. Brown’s husband, Sergeant David T. Nutt, died exactly one month later at the age of 32.
“Ceremonies like this it’s good to know that after six years they’re still being remembered,” Bonnie Brown said. “We cry, but it’s still good to know they’re being remembered.”
Both families laid special memorial bricks at the brigade monument. In all, 14 bricks were placed there to honor the fallen Soldiers who’ve died since 9/11.
Sustainment Brigade Commander Colonel Michael Peterman in his speech reminded attendees of the importance the Veteran’s Day weekend.
“It takes an extraordinary person to say, ‘I will defend,’ and an equally important person to say, ‘I will support my spouse, child, friend, relative … in support of that defense,” Peterman said. “The families and friends gathered here today who no longer have their loved have our utmost respect, gratitude and appreciation.”
Both families agreed that the loss of their loved ones has not gotten easier with time.
“You’ve always got a hole in your heart, but you learn to deal with it day by day,” Bonnie Hunt said.
“You have good days, and you have bad days,” Ed Hunt said. “You might hear a song, or see somebody that resembles them or whatever, and it just brings everything back.”
For Heidi Nutt, she sees her deceased husband every time she looks at her 11-year-old daughter. And just sharing that brings her to tears.
Still, she said, she’s does not want sympathy. “That’s what I say, ‘don’t feel sorry for me,’ she said.
Bonnie Hunt said while ceremonies like this one make her feel good that people remember her son, she also wonders what might have been.
“He was my baby. He would have made a wonderful daddy,” she said.
The names of the fallen 101st Sustainment Brigade Soldiers since 9/11 include:
*Staff Sergeant Alicia Birchett
*Corporal Sean Grilley
*Private First Class John E. Brown
* Lieutenant Colonel Kim S. Orlando
* Sergeant David T. Nutt
* Private First Class Daniel R. Parker
*Sergeant Amanda N. Pinson
*Staff Sergeant Joseph P. Bellavia
*Corporal Jason J. Beadles
*Corporal Carlos M. Gonzalez
* Second Lieutenant Joshua C. Hurley
* Staff Sergeant Johnnie V. Mason
* Specialist Maurice J. Johnson
* Specialist Thomas A. Foley III
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