Friday, December 16, 2005

My daughter's boyfriend, Dennis J. Ferderer, was killed in action in Iraq on November 2, 2005. He and my daughter had known each other for one year. Dennis was deployed last January. He came home on leave in late September and was able to visit with my daughter his last few days before returning to duty. They planned to continue dating when he returned to Fort Benning this January. They talked to each other for about an hour on the phone early Monday morning, October 31st. It was unusual for Dennis to be able to talk that long when he called. On Thursday afternoon, just before my daughter was supposed to go take a major Biology test, a friend of Dennis' called and told her that Dennis had been killed on Wednesday. My daughter has had a hard time dealing with this loss but she was able to leave school and attend his funeral in North Dakota. His family was wonderful to her. She has returned to Georgia Tech where she attends college and is trying to catch up with what she missed and also get on with her life although she's still so sad. She keeps saying she doesn't want anything for Christmas but I think she will really like this bracelet and it will be a way to make others aware of the mounting numbers of soldiers that are dying almost every day.

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