WIFE HONORS FALLEN HUSBAND ... BY JOINING ARMY
Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2007 2:54 PM by Daily Nightly Editor
Filed Under:
Conflict in Iraq
by Dawn Fratangelo, correspondent
Each and every time I meet a family connected to this war-- and there have been so many who've graciously shared their homes and life stories-- I am in awe. The young woman you will meet tonight on Nightly News shares the strength and commitment of countless others. But there is one aspect of her story that is unlike any other we've encountered in our coverage of this conflict in Iraq: After her husband, Eddy Garvin, was killed in Anbar Province nine months ago, this widow decided to join the Army and hopes to be deployed to Iraq to work as a medic.
I shook my head in disbelief when I first learned of Melissa Garvin and her decision. So, too, did producer, Sam Singal, and our camera crew. I'll be honest-- we all walked into the interview assuming that grief and loss were clouding her judgment. What other explanation could there be? Well, it turns out, we all walked away impressed by her reasoning and motivation. Like so many others who join, Melissa sees the military-- with its structure and support-- as a positive step forward, as a path to a better life. And that is the simple premise by which she has lived since she met her husband in grade school.
(Photo: Melissa Garvin, photographed with her husband Eddy, who was killed in Anbar Province nine months ago)
A better life. It's why her husband joined the Marines. And now without him, she feels she must move forward and this is how she's doing it.
A friend who is a therapist explained it to me this way: Some people deal negatively with death and loss. Some can react with positive force and will try to turn loss into optimism. It's how organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving were started. In fact, Melissa started a scholarship in her husband's name through the Boy Scouts that helps young scouts, with limited means, go to camp. She says the scholarship is to honor her husband and his memory. She says joining the Army is to honor herself and her decision to move forward.
And what's more, one nurse's aide says, she's good at her job. And so Melissa, Godspeed. And once again, I am in awe.
(Click here to watch the full report as it aired on NBC Nightly News.)
