Not Hearing Her Voice

Everything in kind of the fog of war, if you will, there are so many moving parts and you are only one set of boots on the ground. Obviously we rely heavily on the officers that commanded us and whoever is leading the patrol and there was a lot going on that day. Looking back when we kind of spooled up to go out in that area before we left PRT, Captain Goddard was in the kitchen getting a coffee and I thought, oh my god like there she is! She was this role model. I didn’t know her personally. But I had said, I went in to grab the last cold bottle of water or something before we went out on that event. And I’m like, “Coffee? ” And she’s like, “Oh yes any time of day!” And she was very Lasse fair about it and I’m thinking it’s so hot out for one and you’re going to have to pee and to try and pee, I just think of those things right? And she just had this, she walked out of the kitchen with me before we left or I walked out with her I guess and she just had this cool, calm, collect Lasse fair attitude. But her voice over the radio. I close my eyes and think about it still so I think in the caous and everything that took place that day. When she got hit we couldn’t hear her voice anymore. And I think there were many people out there that day that that is what stuck with them as well. No matter what had previously taken place when I had the opportunity to be our foo attached to us, her voice no matter what was going on the cadence never changed. She never got excited. She was cool, calm and collect on that radio. And in that evening is when it unfolded into the evening and into the next morning not having her voice there. I think it was palpable. Everyone felt that, I think. And she was gone.