Remembering Our Military War Widows

Sara Wood and her son were surprised by Dan Wallrath, left, during a Houston Texans football game this past season.

Military Widow Surprised With Free Home -- CNN

(CNN) -- CNN Hero Dan Wallrath is ramping up his efforts to build mortgage-free homes for U.S. troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His group, Operation Finally Home, has built 17 houses to date, and 19 more are under construction.

Just this month, the organization broke ground on its first home for a military widow.

CNN's Christie O'Reilly spoke with Wallrath, one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2010, about the unique way he and his group surprised the widow.

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My Comment: The video is here.

Iraq Has A Million Widows

Batal Nema, a widow, a government-run trailer camp for widows on the outskirts of Baghdad, Oct. 27, 2011. Andrea Bruce/The New York Times

Iraq — Land Of A Million Widows -- MSNBC

'I don't need a man because I have three men already,' Raja Hashim, 32, says, speaking about her sons.

BAGHDAD — Noria Khalaf giggled and then, embarrassed, covered her smile with a fold of her black robes. Yes, she said, she would like to marry again. It had been four years since her husband died, and her children needed a father.

Finding a good man in Baghdad these days is a challenge. Not only is nearly every trailer in this dusty government-run camp on the capital’s outskirts occupied by war widows like her, with nary a man in sight, but across Iraq women now outnumber men.

Some widows ask their brothers to bring friends by the camp, one of two packed trailer camps for widows in Baghdad. But that is not often successful.

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My Comment: A side of war .... or I should say the consequence of war .... that is rarely talked about but strikes numerous families .... both here and on the other side.

A New Generation Of Military Widows

Helping A New Generation Of Military Widows -- CNN

(CNN) -- Taryn Davis was 19 when she married her high school sweetheart.

"It was probably the happiest point of my life," she said. "I didn't need someone to complete my life. He made me want to be a better person."

Two days after the wedding, Davis moved to Alaska to be with her husband, Michael Davis, who was stationed at an Army base there, putting their honeymoon plans on hold.

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My Comment: Our prayers are with them and their families.

War Widows

Recent war widows gathering in Austin, Tex., last month to share stories and see a documentary.

Helping War Widows on Road Ahead -- New York Times

When your husband dies at war, the things he carried show up in six black boxes.

Each pair of socks, each T-shirt, each love letter is inventoried on 20 sheets of paper. Everything has been washed, so when you breathe in the scent of a shirt, it doesn’t smell like him.

When a soldier dies, grief is followed by immersion in the somber routines and protocols of a military death.

These, at least, were the experiences that Taryn Davis — who became a 21-year-old widow on May 21, 2007, when her husband, Cpl. Michael W. Davis of the Army, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq — decided to preserve in a documentary titled “American Widow Project,” which she began filming several months after Michael’s death. (The 75-minute documentary will be available online from americanwidowproject.org next month; a preview of it can be seen on YouTube.)

Recalling the days after her husband died, Ms. Davis said: “I was basically on the Internet for 14 hours a day looking for resources. I wanted facts, and I wanted reality. I started looking and couldn’t find anything, and I realized that what I needed was another widow to come to my house.”

Instead she went to others’ houses.

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My Comment: This widow is a very thoughtful person. Unlike many in her situation who use their loss to advocate a position (i.e. Cindy Sheehan), she is trying her best to help those who are going through one of the most difficult moments in their lives. Kudos to her and her project.