thedrifter
04-05-06, 06:02 AM
A Marine's Mother
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; A21
Washington Post
Last August, Danielette James, 58, a federal custodian who cleans congressional offices five nights a week, unsuccessfully pleaded with her bosses for time off to welcome home her son, a Marine who was returning to Camp Lejeune, N.C., after seven months in Iraq.
In the end, James, unable to draw on the 172 hours of vacation time she had amassed, had to wait until a weekend for a two-day visit to North Carolina. (Her bosses at the Architect of the Capitol's office told The Washington Post at the time they had tried to meet her request.)
Over the weekend, the mother of six learned that her son, Eric McIntire, 27, had been killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad.
McIntire, a sergeant who served nearly 10 years in the Marines, had returned to Iraq in early March. He was traveling in a Humvee with other members of his platoon on Sunday when a bomb exploded, killing him and several other men, James said.
A military chaplain broke the news Sunday afternoon to McIntire's wife of five years, Cynthia McIntire, who called James. Someone in uniform also visited James at her Woodbridge home that day.
"I was so crazy. I was crying so much. I went outside screaming, and my neighbor came running," James said.
McIntire was generous and quiet, his mother said, the sort of person who always gave money to friends in need and would talk to homeless people on the street. Before he lost his life in a war zone, the military had saved it.
"When he was young, he was into drinking and smoking," James said. "And then he said, 'Oh, no, I'm trying to mess my life up. Let me stop this.' And he stopped. And he finished high school, and then he joined the Marines. Since he joined the Marines, he has been straight. He has been so good. He is nice to his wife, he takes good care of her."
James last saw her son at Christmas. She last talked to him a few days before he returned to Iraq in early March. Before, he had wanted to go to Iraq because all of his friends were there, James said. This time he was reluctant, she said.
James stayed home from work yesterday and Monday to grieve; she says she has been asked to bring in a copy of her son's obituary. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
-- Christopher Lee
Rest In Peace
Ellie
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; A21
Washington Post
Last August, Danielette James, 58, a federal custodian who cleans congressional offices five nights a week, unsuccessfully pleaded with her bosses for time off to welcome home her son, a Marine who was returning to Camp Lejeune, N.C., after seven months in Iraq.
In the end, James, unable to draw on the 172 hours of vacation time she had amassed, had to wait until a weekend for a two-day visit to North Carolina. (Her bosses at the Architect of the Capitol's office told The Washington Post at the time they had tried to meet her request.)
Over the weekend, the mother of six learned that her son, Eric McIntire, 27, had been killed by a roadside bomb near Baghdad.
McIntire, a sergeant who served nearly 10 years in the Marines, had returned to Iraq in early March. He was traveling in a Humvee with other members of his platoon on Sunday when a bomb exploded, killing him and several other men, James said.
A military chaplain broke the news Sunday afternoon to McIntire's wife of five years, Cynthia McIntire, who called James. Someone in uniform also visited James at her Woodbridge home that day.
"I was so crazy. I was crying so much. I went outside screaming, and my neighbor came running," James said.
McIntire was generous and quiet, his mother said, the sort of person who always gave money to friends in need and would talk to homeless people on the street. Before he lost his life in a war zone, the military had saved it.
"When he was young, he was into drinking and smoking," James said. "And then he said, 'Oh, no, I'm trying to mess my life up. Let me stop this.' And he stopped. And he finished high school, and then he joined the Marines. Since he joined the Marines, he has been straight. He has been so good. He is nice to his wife, he takes good care of her."
James last saw her son at Christmas. She last talked to him a few days before he returned to Iraq in early March. Before, he had wanted to go to Iraq because all of his friends were there, James said. This time he was reluctant, she said.
James stayed home from work yesterday and Monday to grieve; she says she has been asked to bring in a copy of her son's obituary. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
-- Christopher Lee
Rest In Peace
Ellie