Fall River Reflects On Bin Laden's Death

Paul Barrett, right, father of fallen U.S. National Guard Sgt. Robert Barrett, receives a hug as Paul's wife Carlene, left, looks on at the funeral of their son in April 2010. (AP)

Hit Hard By War, Fall River Reflects On Bin Laden's Death
WBUR
FALL RIVER, Mass. — In the past year, five young men in this community have lost their lives fighting in the two wars that started because of Osama bin Laden and the Sept. 11 attacks. For their friends and family, the news of the al-Qaida leader’s death brought a particular sense of pride and justice.

A Family Remembers Its Son

One of those men was U.S. National Guard Sgt. Robert Barrett, who was killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber on April 19, 2010. At his family’s modest home, adorned with American flags and tributes to Robert, his grandmother, Sue Galloway, sat on the porch the afternoon after bin Laden’s death. Beside her was her great-granddaughter, Sophie — Robert’s 3-year-old daughter.

The night before, Galloway had watched President Obama’s announcement on television with Robert’s mother. She said they largely kept their feelings to themselves as they listened to the news. “I was just kind of happy that he was gone,” Galloway explained. “Because of all the chaos that he’s created in America itself — and all of the boys that he is at fault of killing. Especially here in Fall River.”

The week before had been the one-year anniversary of Robert’s death. While Galloway says bin Laden’s death doesn’t make the loss of her grandson any easier, she says it marks the time to get the other soldiers out of Afghanistan and Iraq. “Bring all these boys, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters — bring them home to their families. That’s where they belong,” she said, her voice straining.

“My grandson is never coming home. But it don’t mean that he’s not here, because he is,” she said, looking to her great-granddaughter. “Right there. In Sophie. He was a great kid. I miss him, I miss him so much it’s unbelievable. And I have 14 grandchildren.”

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Hit Hard By War