For troops' families, a rare bit of comfort
It had been a week since Timothy LePain had heard from his son Christopher, a specialist with the US Army's Fourth Infantry Division in Iraq. A phone call yesterday morning from his wife at work sent him racing to the television: There was news about the Fourth.
Good news.
LePain knew that his son's unit conducted nighttime raids and that Christopher was "one of the guys with rifles, kicking down doors." Although the Natick man had no clue yesterday whether his son was directly involved in the raid by his division that captured dictator Saddam Hussein, he nonetheless allowed himself a rare moment of happiness and relief -- feelings that have been in short supply for military families in recent months.
"Well, I'm pleased," he said. "I'm hoping that it will have an effect in calming things down, though I don't think it'll happen immediately."
Across the state yesterday, news of Hussein's capture arrived like welcome music to local military personnel and their families accustomed to the depressing daily rhythm of casualty reports coming from Iraq since the US-led invasion nine months ago.
For those with relatives still overseas, the news offered a respite from constant worry. For those who have lost friends and loved ones, Hussein's capture was, if not a justification for their sacrifices, then at least a bit of salve for emotional wounds that are still fresh.
Bernard Mayo was visiting family members in Warwick, R.I., when he tuned in to the news yesterday morning and learned about Hussein's capture.
"It was the best news I've heard," he said. "Too bad it came a month too late."
Mayo's daughter, 43-year-old Sharon T. Swartworth, was killed Nov. 7 when the Black Hawk helicopter in which she was riding crashed near Tikrit.
"If it would have been a month ago, I don't think she would have been shot down," Mayo said. "But we've adjusted, and we're making it.
"God finally got him," he said, a note of satisfaction in his voice.
In West Roxbury, family members of slain soldier Kyran Edward Kennedy, who had been piloting the same helicopter, sounded a note of cautious celebration.
"We hope Kyran's death made a difference," his mother, Geraldine, said. "We're very happy [Hussein] has been captured. We hope the Iraqi people can move on now."
Sue Boule's son, Army Specialist Mathew Boule, 22, of Dracut, died April 2 in a separate crash of a Black Hawk helicopter.
"It is not going to bring Mathew back; there is nothing I can do about that," she said. "But I am happy because [US armed forces] worked so hard for it. They did what they set out to do. What this means is that, hopefully, this is finally over in Iraq. Now we have to go after [Osama] bin Laden, to show the world that the Americans aren't going to tolerate terrorism."
Boule said her son believed strongly in the US intervention in Iraq and would have been cheered by yesterday's news.
"He felt very strongly about it," she said. "He was doing it so that his nieces and nephews and his godson wouldn't have to go through what we went through on 9/11."
After her brother-in-law alerted her to Hussein's capture in a phone call yesterday morning, Alma Hart raced to her best friend's house with her husband, Brian, to see the television news and the president's address yesterday. The Bedford couple are in the middle of moving and their television is not hooked up.
The Harts' 20-year-old son, Army Private First Class John Hart, died in a barrage of gunfire and grenades in Iraq during an ambush Oct. 18 outside the northern city of Kirkuk. He had been attached to the Fourth Infantry Divison.
"That was his group there that surrounded [Hussein] and captured him," she said. Hussein "kind of revealed himself for the cowardly weasel that he is -- he ended up hiding instead of running or fighting. It's sad John couldn't be there to see it."
Many of those concerned with the well-being of relatives and friends overseas expressed cautious optimism that Hussein's capture -- and the end of any dream that he might someday return to power -- might take the starch out of the insurgents in Iraq who have been launching almost daily attacks on coalition forces.
Globe correspondent Donovan Slack contributed to this report.
