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A Marine Is Killed in Iraq by Landmine, and Grief Ripples at Home His family wanted a "showboat funeral" for Cpl. Travis J. Bradach-Nall, a 21-year-old marine who was killed in Iraq clearing mines on July 1. And that meant hiring stretch limousines... President Bush declared the major combat officially over on May 1, but more than 100 service members have died since then, either in continued fighting, accidents, ambushes or on reconstruction tasks, according to the Department of Defense. For the families of the 148,000 members of armed services still in Iraq, the volatile situation can feel something like being forced into a game of Russian roulette... And since Lynn Bradachís son was killed, she has received four letters he sent from Iraq, including one that arrived the day of his funeral, and a package containing a rug he had bought for her. But she has not had the strength to open any of them, she said... Ms. Bradach plans to join the international campaign to ban land mines and do whatever she can to get a Democrat elected president in 2004, she said. "I don't ever do anything that would hurt the Marines," she said. "However, I want everything to come out about why decisions were made. And I don't want to hear, `Well, you know what, it's over now, the decision was made.' You know what? If you make a wrong decision, you have to pay for that. I want to make sure that changes are made or people are held accountable for what happened..." "Everyone was talking about him as this gung-ho marine," said Riley Bradach, 22, who along with about 10 other relatives and friends drifted in and out of his cousin's house last Sunday, typical for a Sunday. "We wanted to put a face on him. He wasn't just a marine." The obituary read: "Travis died serving his country. But his true loyalty was at home with his family. Above all things living were his mother and younger brother. Travis's pride for his family was never a secret. |
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