Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Whidbey sailors' deaths bring war close to home
OAK HARBOR - A moment frozen in time: six stoic sailors, clutching guns and posing in front of a helicopter.
The photo hangs on the wood-paneled wall of the Oak Harbor Veterans of Foreign Wars club.
Until recently, it represented a good memory - a deed well done by the ladies auxiliary. The sailors autographed and sent the photo to the auxiliary as a thank-you gift for adopting their unit and showering them with letters and care packages.
Now the photo represents something more sorrowful - a life cut short, a family's grief, the loss of a comrade.
On Friday, one of the sailors in the picture - a smiling brown-haired man wearing camouflage fatigues and a baseball cap - died in Iraq. Chief Petty Officer Gregory Billiter, 36, was one of three Oak Harbor sailors who were killed near Kirkuk. Petty Officer 1st Class Adam McSween, 26, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis Hall, 24, also died.
The deaths have rocked Oak Harbor, home of the naval station where the sailors were based. At the VFW, the news brought tears, rekindled memories and sparked quiet conversation among club members.
"I flew 214 combat missions in Vietnam," said retired naval navigator Carl Gotcher, 74, as he sat in the VFW bar. "I've lost every one of my close friends. They all died violently. We still get impacted when anyone expires violently because we associate it with ourselves."
For the women who adopted the unit in 2001, the deaths brought home both the reality of war and the importance of their work.
"You just love your spouse and you see how much your children loved them and just to think of another family going through that - it makes you hug your kids and your spouse," said Amy Hannold, a 34-year-old mother of two and the senior vice president of the auxiliary. She cried as she spoke of the fallen sailors. "No matter where you stand on the war, this is coming home and it's affecting families."
The deaths made VFW Post Commander Cecil Pierce reflect on a charity motorcycle run the sailors' unit organized last summer. About 75 sailors in the unit, which specializes in dismantling explosive devices, participated in the event, Pierce said. They were raising money for a national memorial dedicated to members of the unit who died in service.
"I don't care your opinion on war or whatever," said Pierce, a 48-year-old Gulf War veteran. "The troops over there, they're the ones who are dying for our rights to argue with our government, to protest our government. They're the ones dying. Support our troops. Show them how much the sacrifice they make for us every day means."
In the coming weeks, the VFW - officially called the Whitehead-Muzzall Post - plans to reach out to the widows, children and parents of the three fallen Whidbey Island sailors.
Billiter leaves behind a wife and son. McSween leaves a wife and two young daughters. And Hall leaves his parents and a tight-knit group of siblings in Idaho.
The auxiliary plans to write to the men's unit in Iraq and soon send them a care package.
"When tragedy comes home, it really emphasizes our efforts to support not only the troops, but now the families," Hannold said. "That will be the next step. "
Kathi Naff, president of the auxiliary, walks by the photo of Billiter and his comrades nearly every day. A while back, some people wanted to redecorate and take down the photo and old certificates associated with the adopt-a-unit program.
Naff refused. To her, those sailors and the packages the auxiliary mailed them represent the best of the VFW.
When she heard about the deaths, she thought back on the letters and phone calls she'd exchanged with members of the unit. They made the tragedy personal for her.
"It's devastating," she said. "You don't realize how close war is and how it touches you. It's really sad. ...
"You feel the closeness of the war and you feel like it's too close."
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
The photo hangs on the wood-paneled wall of the Oak Harbor Veterans of Foreign Wars club.
Until recently, it represented a good memory - a deed well done by the ladies auxiliary. The sailors autographed and sent the photo to the auxiliary as a thank-you gift for adopting their unit and showering them with letters and care packages.
Now the photo represents something more sorrowful - a life cut short, a family's grief, the loss of a comrade.
On Friday, one of the sailors in the picture - a smiling brown-haired man wearing camouflage fatigues and a baseball cap - died in Iraq. Chief Petty Officer Gregory Billiter, 36, was one of three Oak Harbor sailors who were killed near Kirkuk. Petty Officer 1st Class Adam McSween, 26, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis Hall, 24, also died.
The deaths have rocked Oak Harbor, home of the naval station where the sailors were based. At the VFW, the news brought tears, rekindled memories and sparked quiet conversation among club members.
"I flew 214 combat missions in Vietnam," said retired naval navigator Carl Gotcher, 74, as he sat in the VFW bar. "I've lost every one of my close friends. They all died violently. We still get impacted when anyone expires violently because we associate it with ourselves."
For the women who adopted the unit in 2001, the deaths brought home both the reality of war and the importance of their work.
"You just love your spouse and you see how much your children loved them and just to think of another family going through that - it makes you hug your kids and your spouse," said Amy Hannold, a 34-year-old mother of two and the senior vice president of the auxiliary. She cried as she spoke of the fallen sailors. "No matter where you stand on the war, this is coming home and it's affecting families."
The deaths made VFW Post Commander Cecil Pierce reflect on a charity motorcycle run the sailors' unit organized last summer. About 75 sailors in the unit, which specializes in dismantling explosive devices, participated in the event, Pierce said. They were raising money for a national memorial dedicated to members of the unit who died in service.
"I don't care your opinion on war or whatever," said Pierce, a 48-year-old Gulf War veteran. "The troops over there, they're the ones who are dying for our rights to argue with our government, to protest our government. They're the ones dying. Support our troops. Show them how much the sacrifice they make for us every day means."
In the coming weeks, the VFW - officially called the Whitehead-Muzzall Post - plans to reach out to the widows, children and parents of the three fallen Whidbey Island sailors.
Billiter leaves behind a wife and son. McSween leaves a wife and two young daughters. And Hall leaves his parents and a tight-knit group of siblings in Idaho.
The auxiliary plans to write to the men's unit in Iraq and soon send them a care package.
"When tragedy comes home, it really emphasizes our efforts to support not only the troops, but now the families," Hannold said. "That will be the next step. "
Kathi Naff, president of the auxiliary, walks by the photo of Billiter and his comrades nearly every day. A while back, some people wanted to redecorate and take down the photo and old certificates associated with the adopt-a-unit program.
Naff refused. To her, those sailors and the packages the auxiliary mailed them represent the best of the VFW.
When she heard about the deaths, she thought back on the letters and phone calls she'd exchanged with members of the unit. They made the tragedy personal for her.
"It's devastating," she said. "You don't realize how close war is and how it touches you. It's really sad. ...
"You feel the closeness of the war and you feel like it's too close."
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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