Mother remembers her son, killed in action in 2001
(Harrisburg) — On this Memorial Day, veterans are getting thanked and remembered in ceremonies across the country.
Ruth Stonesifer, from Bucks County, was one of the first mothers to lose a child in combat in the Afghanistan War that started in 2001.
Her 28 year old son Kris was killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan on October 19th, 2001.
She says he was so anxious to get over and fight that he ripped off a cast on his broken leg so he could be deployed.
“There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that you don’t look at a picture or remember an event in your child’s life, especially if they have been killed in action or died as a result of their injuries from service in the Armed Forces.”
She is far from the first mother to feel the grief of losing a child, and says a breakfast with three mothers who lost children in the Vietnam War helped pick her up.
“And I learned an incredible gift of knowledge from them that grief does not dissipate, but you learn to live with it. And they gave me a great gift that day.”
Stonesifer turned her grief into good – leading the group the American Gold Star Mothers from 2009 to 2010.
Through the nonprofit, mothers volunteer their time, and get support services to help them carry on.
Stonesifer featured her son Kris in the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D-C last night.
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