Memorial Day: Remembering, Grieving

Elaina Morton shot herself on August 25, 2005. She wasn't a soldier, but many in her small Kansas community considered her death a casualty of war. They will likely think of her on Memorial Day for years to come. Why?

Because they believe that she killed herself out of grief -- grief for her husband, Ben, whom insurgents had killed three months earlier in northern Iraq.

In the time between Ben Morton's death and her suicide, Elaina Morton spent time browsing messages on Fallen Heroes Memorial, a website dedicated to U.S. service people who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. She even wrote on the site, thanking people who had expressed condolences.

"My husband has joined the many fallen soldiers in heaven," she wrote of the man known to his friends as 'Rat'. "We love you Ben and miss you everyday."

There appeared to be no despair in that message, but shortly after writing it, the 23-year-old radiology technician lost the will to live.



Arlington Cemetery, Memorial Day 2007
© Getty Images, Inc.

While Elaina Morton's case is clearly an extreme one, there are today thousands of American military families experiencing intense pain and anger while being forced to cope with the public nature of their loved one's death.

There are likely many more families struggling to re-assimilate soldiers returning from battle with debilitating injuries and severe psychological ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder. They are not always successful, and divorce is often the result.

Read "Costs of occupation" in the Global Implications section of the Iraq report. Then answer this essential question for critical thinking: "Why might grief caused by the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq be felt more widely than the grief felt in previous wars?"

Read through the Overview of the Iraq report. Then write a short speech intended to comfort grieving U.S. military families on Memorial Day.



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