Casualty of War

Jenna Hurk is the single mother of her one son Mark, the only other person left from her family. One Saturday morning, she recieves the news she fears the most.

Saturday, June 15 Jenna Hurk wakes up and looks out the window. "Nothing but rain, depressing rain" she says to herself. Of course she has been through rainy days before, but today felt different. She felt like something was wrong, but she did not know what yet. After breakfast, Jenna picked up the mail and began looking at the names on the envelopes. Looking at the name on the fourth envelope, she grew cold and started to shiver. Not because of tempurature, but because of fear. The name was Col. Saunders, Her son's commanding Colonel. Mark had joined the army and was sent to Iraq the month before. She was in denial about what she knew happened. But still, she told herself "maybe Mark was just promoted". Very slowly, she oppened the envelope. Jenna's eyes widened and her mouth oppened. Her hands started to shake, and she dropped the letter. Private: Mark Hurk was killed in Action the letter started. He was shot in the head when his unit was ambushed on a road. Also killed was Private: Kad
and Lieutenant: Strom. The other names meant nothing to Jenna. Over and over she read the letter. She couldn't believe it. It must be a mistake she thought. But she knew it was true. She spent most of that day, and the next crying. She couldn't help but feel lonely, and depressed. Mark was supposed to keep the family tree going. Sure he didn't have a girl friend or wife, but she had faith that he would someday. Now those hopes were fully diminished, nothing could bring him back. Same goes for her husband, mother, and father. And for the rest of her life, she never forgot this day.